The overall quality of the United States health care system is improving, but providers are missing important chances to help Americans avoid disease or serious complications, according to annual reports issued on January 11 by Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The 2006 “National Healthcare Quality Report” and “National Healthcare Disparities Report” both found that the use of proven prevention strategies lags significantly behind other gains in health care:

• Only about 52 percent of adults reported receiving recommended colorectal cancer screenings.
About 56,000 Americans die from colorectal cancer, and 150,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. In 2002, the AHRQ-supported U.S Preventive Services Task Force urged initial screenings at age 50 and earlier for people at high risk.

• Fewer than half of obese adults reported being counseled about diet by a health care professional. About one-third of American adults are obese, increasing the risks of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and osteoarthritis. The Task Force recommends “intensive counseling and behavioral interventions” for obese adults.

• Only 49 percent of people with asthma said they were told how to change their environment, and 28 percent reported receiving an asthma management plan. Asthma causes about 500,000 hospitalizations annually.

• Only 48 percent of adults with diabetes received all three recommended screenings — blood sugar tests, foot exams and eye exams — to prevent disease complications. AHRQ estimates about $2.5 billion could be saved each year by eliminating hospitalizations related to diabetes complications.
The findings from the two annual reports provide updated, congressionally mandated snapshots of the U.S. health care system. The reports examine quality and disparities in four key areas of health care: effectiveness of health care, patient safety, timeliness of care and patient centeredness.

As in previous years, the federal disparities report found access to care varied widely between racial, ethnic and economic groups. Blacks received poorer quality care than whites for 73 percent of the core measures included in the disparities report. Those variations were particularly apparent in the area of prevention. Obese blacks were less likely to be told they were overweight by their doctor or other health care provider. Colorectal cancer screening rates were significantly lower for blacks and Asians when compared with whites. For more information on this report, visit www.ahrq.gov.


—By Troy May

Posted on January 19, 2007 03:29 PM