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Assessing the nation’s progress toward elimination of disparities in health care

The national healthcare disparities report

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Abstract

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality submitted the first annual National Healthcare Disparities Report to Congress in December, 2003. This first report will provide a snapshot of the state of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in access and quality of care in America. It examines disparities in the general population and within the Agency’s priority populations. While focused on extant data, the first report will form the foundation for future versions, which examines causes of disparities and shape solutions to the problem. As patient advocates and agents of change, primary care physicians play a critical role in efforts to eliminate disparities in health care. Continuing participation by primary care physicians in the development and refinement of the National Healthcare Disparities Report is essential.

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Correspondence to Sari Siegel MA.

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The views in this paper are those of the authors. No official endorsement by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the Department of Health and Human Services is intended or should be inferred.

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Siegel, S., Moy, E. & Burstin, H. Assessing the nation’s progress toward elimination of disparities in health care. J GEN INTERN MED 19, 195–200 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30221.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30221.x

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