Equal access to mediocre care

AP and The Washington Post (WP) report that a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found Americans received only mediocre quality healthcare. "Research from the biggest study ever of U.S. health care quality," noted AP, determined there was no real difference in the quality of care received by people based on their ethnicity. However the study did find that overall people received "only 55 percent of recommended steps for top-quality care."

In the journal article's abstract, the researchers concluded:

The differences among sociodemographic subgroups in the observed quality of health care are small in comparison with the gap for each subgroup between observed and desirable quality of health care. Quality-improvement programs that focus solely on reducing disparities among sociodemographic subgroups may miss larger opportunities to improve care.

Who Is at Greatest Risk for Receiving Poor-Quality Health Care?
(available in pdf, 140KB, from NEJM)

Supplementary Appendix (Evidence)
(also available in pdf, 700KB)