The 2016 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that while some healthcare disparities decreased between 2000 and 2015, many did not significantly decrease for racial and ethnic groups. The report showed that uninsured individuals had lower scores on two-thirds of quality measures. Specifically, measures around delays in receiving prescriptions, access to urgent care, and availability of a primary care provider showed no improvement over the past 15 years and had the greatest degree of disparity.

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AHRQ Study
Points out
Persistent
Healthcare
Quality Disparities
Dr. Lamont Tyler

2. z
Introduction
 Dr. Lamont Tyler serves as the medical director of OSF
Medical Group in Illinois. In this role, Dr. Lamont Tyler
maintains a strong passion for improvement in the quality of
patient care, which has become a central issue in the past
decade.
Recently, the 2016 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities
Report was published by the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality. This report looked at several factors, from rates of
uninsured Americans to markers of quality healthcare such as
patient safety, effective treatment, care coordination,
affordability, and person-centered care.
The report showed that some disparities have decreased
between 2000 and 2015, especially in terms of rates of the
uninsured.

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Healthcare Quality
 However, the data showed that many health
disparity measures did not decrease significantly in
terms of racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore, two-
thirds of the measures were lower for people who
did not have insurance.
The measures that showed the greatest degree of
disparity included delays in receiving prescription
medications, lack of access to urgent care, and
availability of a primary care provider. These three
measures of quality healthcare delivery did not
show any improvement over the past 15 years.