Racial and ethnic disparities in health care have been consistently documented in the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of many common clinical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. The 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare, defines disparities as differences in treatment between racial, ethnic or other demographic groups that are not directly attributable to variation in clinical needs or patient preferences and persist even after adjustment for socioeconomic factors.1 The IOM report Crossing the Quality Chasm has highlighted equity-the absence of disparities—as a key pillar of quality.2 Although some improvements have been achieved, persistent health care disparities in quality and access, which vary in magnitude and pattern within minority subpopulations, were recently documented in the 2009 AHRQ National Healthcare Disparities Report.~3
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