Digital Commons Network^™

Targeting The Inequality In Quality Improvement, Raquel Maria Davis

Public Health Theses

Objective. To use Casalino et al.’s (2007) proposed causal pathways of how pay-for-performance (P4P) can exacerbate racial/ethnic health care disparities as a framework for analyzing the literature and determine the adequacy of the evidence.

Data Sources/Study Setting. Existing literature (gray and peer-reviewed) on pay-for-performance and racial/ethnic health disparities identified from the Ovid Medline database.

Conceptual Framework. Casalino et al.’s four casual pathways include: “Pathway 1: Reduction in income for physicians in poor minority communities,” “Pathway 2: ‘Color-blind’ quality improvement programs,” “Pathway 3: ‘Teaching to the test’ might disproportionately affect minorities,” and “Pathway 4: Avoiding patients perceived as likely to lower …