U.S. study outlines efforts to boost equal care

The AMA Foundation aids an effort to reduce diabetes care disparities.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. March 14, 2005.

The gap between the best possible health care and actual care remains large, and disparities in health care delivered to racial and ethnic minorities remain "pervasive," new government studies conclude.

But improvements are possible, and in some cases they are already under way, said two reports that the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality published in February.

The National Healthcare Quality Report examined the effectiveness, safety, timeliness and "patient centeredness" of treatment that people receive for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and six other areas. The National Healthcare Disparities Report then compared how these quality measures stacked up among racial, ethnic and economic minority groups.

Both reports contained a mixture of good and bad news but maintained an optimistic tone by highlighting proven ways that physicians and others in health care have closed quality and disparity gaps.

For example, diabetes is one area being addressed. The quality report noted that there was a 34% decrease in the hospital admission rate for uncontrolled diabetes between 1994 and 2001. The disparities report, however, noted that blacks, Hispanics and American Indians were more likely to die from diabetes and its complications than whites in 2001. It also noted that these groups were less likely to receive the five recommended tests and services for diabetes: A1c and lipid management, eye and foot exams and influenza immunization.