2014 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Report

Each year since 2003, AHRQ has reported on progress and opportunities for improving health care quality and reducing health care disparities. As mandated by the U.S. Congress, the report focuses on "national trends in the quality of health care provided to the American people" (42 U.S.C. 299b-2(b)(2)) and "prevailing disparities in health care delivery as it relates to racial factors and socioeconomic factors in priority populations" (42 U.S.C. 299a-1(a)(6)). The report is produced with the support of an HHS Interagency Work Group and guided by input from AHRQ's National Advisory Council and the Institute of Medicine.

As in previous years, the 2014 report tracks more than 250 health care process, outcome, and access measures, covering a wide variety of conditions and settings. Data years vary across measures; most trend analyses include data points from 2000-2002 to 2011-2012. It is important to note that the report provides a snapshot of health care prior to implementation of most of the health insurance expansions included in the Affordable Care Act and serves as a baseline to track progress in upcoming years. An exception is rates of uninsurance, which we were able to track through the first half of 2014.

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