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Several hundred studies have documented a consistent pattern of racial disparities in health care. Three new articles shed light on recent trends.
Trivedi and colleagues examined the quality of care received by patients enrolled in Medicare managed-care plans during a 7-year period (1997–2003). Nine measures were evaluated relating to diabetes care, cardiovascular care, and cancer screening. Racial disparities decreased significantly over time for all measures except control of glycosylated hemoglobin among diabetics and control of LDL cholesterol among patients with coronary artery disease.
Jha and colleagues evaluated the rates of nine major procedures among Medicare enrollees. From 1992 through 2001, disparity between blacks and nonblacks …