Using Data to Reduce Disparities and Improve Quality

Resource: Using Data to Reduce Disparities and Improve Quality: A Guide for Health Care Organizations

This brief recommends strategies that primary care practices and health care organizations can use to effectively organize and interpret race, ethnicity, and language data to improve equity for their patients and reduce disparities. It is intended for health care organizations that already collect race, ethnicity, and language data. This resource can help practices analyze and act on disparities data, part of Key Driver 2: Implement a data-driven quality improvement process to integrate evidence into practice procedures.

Institution of origin: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s): DeMeester R, Mahadevan R

Acknowledgements: This resource was developed as part of Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities, as well as reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide real models for national reform.

Publication date: April 2014