QDR-Process Improvement Project

Executive Summary

The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (QDR) is an annual report from AHRQ to Congress on trends in the quality of health care provided to the American people and the prevailing disparities in health care delivery for priority populations: women, children, racial and ethnic minorities, populations with special health care needs (chronic illness, disabilities, and end of life care needs), the elderly, low-income, inner-city, and rural populations. The QDR tracks and reports on more than 250 health care measures from more than 45 data sources. It currently takes more than a year to produce these annual reports of data. Additional lags in the survey data collection and release process limit the usefulness of the resulting report.

This team explored the actionable health care quality and disparities measures desired by their customers to help ensure the data presented are best understood.

A project supported by the: HHS Ignite Accelerator

Team Members

Elizabeth Bishop (Project Lead), AHRQ
Karen Chaves, AHRQ
Veronica Soileau, AHRQ
Hashini Khajuria, CDC

Milestones

December 2013: Project selected into the HHS Ignite Accelerator
January 2014: Time in the Accelerator began
April 2014: Time in the Accelerator ended

Project Sponsor

Ernest Moy, Medical Officer, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, AHRQ