,Measuring Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Efforts to Improve Data Collection

Measuring Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Efforts to Improve Data Collection


 

Publication Date: May 2009

Publisher: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Author(s): Patricia Collins Higgins; Erin Fries Taylor

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Medicare; Medicaid; data collection; primary language

Type: Brief

Coverage: New Jersey Massachusetts California

Abstract:

Disparities in the quality of health care contribute to higher rates of disease, disability, and mortality in racial and ethnic minority groups. A new policy brief examines recent federal and state activities aimed at strengthening the collection of health-related data on race, ethnicity, and primary language. It highlights three states--California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey--that implemented laws or regulations guiding data collection activities by hospitals, health plans, and government agencies.