Link: http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr10/nhdr10.pdf

Each year since 2003, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has reported on
progress and opportunities for improving health care quality and reducing health care disparities.
Guided by a subcommittee of AHRQ‟s National Advisory Council and a Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) Interagency Work Group,i past reports were built on more than 250
measures categorized across six dimensions: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, patient
centeredness, efficiency, and access to care. As mandated by the U.S. Congress, the National
Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) focuses on “national trends in the quality of health care
provided to the American people” (42 U.S.C. 299b-2(b)(2)) while the National Healthcare
Disparities Report (NHDR) focuses on “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)).