The need to assess healthcare quality metrics specific to minority populations is particularly acute because of the significant disparities that persist in health and healthcare outcomes for minority populations in the United States. It has long been recognized that even when socioeconomic factors are accounted for, minority patients who have access to healthcare experience differences in the quality of care they receive when compared with Caucasian patients. African Americans with colorectal cancer, for example, are treated less aggressively than Caucasians with similar socioeconomic characteristics. Differences in cardiovascular treatments among African Americans, Latinos, or women and Caucasians are also well documented. Moreover, poor quality of care for minority populations is not limited to acute care and can be unsettlingly subtle. For example, African American and Hispanic patients receiving palliative care in New York City were less able than Caucasian patients to obtain prescribed medication for pain management because pharmacies in predominantly non-Caucasian communities did not have, or had insufficient supplies of, opioid analgesics. Despite increased attention to disparities in the quality of healthcare for minority populations in the United States, there has been scant attention to measurement and reporting for these populations.
Funding for this project has been provided by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund.
For more information, contact Helen W. Wu at 202.332.7014.