Smart Use of State Public Health Data for Health Disparity Assessment

Disparities represent a lack of efficiency within the healthcare system and therefore account for unnecessary costs. With the affirmation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, reducing health disparities through enhanced public health data infrastructure and analytical capability has become essential for healthcare practitioners. This book explains how to maximize the use of various datasets from state health departments for assessing health disparity and for disease prevention. The authors offer practical advice on state public health data use, their strengths and weaknesses, data management insight, and lessons learned.