ddrdh: According to the 2014 National Healthcare Quality and...

By: vivian on sexta-feira, julho 31, 2015

ddrdh:

According to the 2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report released in May 2015 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) more Americans are receiving healthcare than ever before.

Healthcare disparities are a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.

Loosely translated this means that certain people in our society (and this usually means minorities, poor people and women) don’t get the healthcare and services that others get. This, of course, contributes to all sorts of problems not the least of which is an increased economical burden. 

There is also, of course, the ethical concern of allowing certain people in our community to suffer. Loosely translated this means that the US government (which is all Americans, really) does not want to see any of its citizens suffer.

AHRQ is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of healthcare, reduce its cost, improve patient safety, decrease medical errors, and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on healthcare outcomes; quality; and cost, use and access. The agency is mandated (Health Research and Quality Act of 1999) to submit these annual reports to Congress to assess the performance of our health system and to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in the health care system.

The findings:

• the rate of uninsurance among adults ages 18-64 decreased substantially during the first half of 2014. 
  
• During the first half of 2014, declines in rates of uninsurance were larger among Black and Hispanic adults ages 18-64 than among Whites, but racial differences in rates remained.
  
• From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of adults ages 18-64 who reported they were without health insurance coverage at the time of interview increased from 18.7% to 22.3%. 
• From 2010 to 2013, the percentage without health insurance decreased from 22.3% to 20.4%. 
•  During the first half of 2014, the percentage without health insurance decreased to 15.6%.
  
• Quality of care: 
• • Blacks received worse care than Whites for about one-third of quality measures.
  •  Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Asians received worse care than Whites for some quality measures and better care for some measures

“The Affordable Care Act is the most far-reaching effort to improve access to care since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Provisions to increase health insurance options for young adults, early retirees, and Americans with pre-existing conditions were implemented in 2010. Open enrollment in health insurance marketplaces began in October 2013 and coverage began in January 2014. Expanded access to Medicaid in many states began in January 2014, although a few had opted to expand Medicaid.”

The report has a lot of information in it. Take the time to read through it. 

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