OVERVIEW: Health care equity is key to health care quality. It is well documented that racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from increased rates of disease and poor health status in the United States. They are also subject to disparities in the quality of treatment they receive, even when insurance coverage and socioeconomic status are similiar. 

OVERVIEW: Poor health care quality impacts employers financially in two major areas — direct costs of health care and indirect costs related to absenteeism, turnover, and reduced productivity. Also, studies have also shown that members of racial/ethnic minority groups disproportionately experience lower-quality health care than Whites. Identifying these gaps in quality and disparities in care and designing appropriate interventions should lead to both short- and long-term savings for employers.

The Montgomery County Hospital Care Equity Initiative recently partnered with the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, Inc. (SHIRE) to develop a community engagement report examining several issues related to race/ethnicity data collection and disparities reporting among area hospitals and community organizations. A final report - available in mid-October - will serve as a tool to Montgomery County hospitals and the surrounding community striving to develop effective interventions for health and health care disparities.

It is a well-known fact that the United States spends more on health care each year than any other nation — a stunning $2.4 trillion.  While much of this care has important benefits for health, Americans generally do not receive the highest quality care possible, often leading to significantly worse health and preventable costs.  According to the 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “despite promising improvement in select areas, the health care system is not achieving the more substantial strides needed to close