The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York
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Black infants in the United States are more than twice as likely to die as White infants in the first year of life. Reducing the existing racial disparity in infant mortality rates is a major health policy focus. Despite decades of research aimed at reducing preterm births, our efforts have been largely unsuccessful. ⋯ However, it is an open question whether such improvements have reduced racial disparities in infant mortality. In this article, we recommend a new framework for addressing infant mortality disparities. We suggest that a quality of care problem may partially underlie racial disparities in infant mortality rates.
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Substantial racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care exist in the United States. The Department of Health Policy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine has developed a strategy for reducing those disparities that builds upon its quality improvement experience. ⋯ Parallels between our disparities research strategy and six sigma quality improvement methods are described. Finally, the article provides an example of how we have been able to successfully implement proven-effective health improvement programs in the Harlem community even after grant funding has ended.