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

The QASC appoints work groups to carry out assignments or projects with specific deliverables and milestones that support the goals of the QASC, and three work groups are currently focusing on a wide array of issues.

There are serious gaps between the health care Americans should receive and the care they actually receive. Patients get significantly different care–some better, some worse–depending on where they live and which doctors and hospitals they use. Meanwhile, the cost of care, even for patients with similar outcomes, varies significantly among providers and regions across the country. Read More