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Chartbook on Rural Healthcare:National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report

Posted 12/22/2021 (updated 3/26/2024)

This Rural Health Care Chartbook is part of a family of documents and tools that support the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR). The NHQDR includes annual reports to Congress mandated in the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 (P.L. 106- 129). These reports provide a comprehensive overview of the quality of healthcare received by the general U.S. population and disparities in care experienced by different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The reports assess the performance of our health system and identify areas of strength and weakness in the healthcare system along four main axes: access to healthcare, quality of healthcare, disparities in healthcare, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) priority areas. The reports are based on more than 250 measures of quality and disparities covering a broad array of healthcare services and settings. Data are generally available through 2017-2018. The reports are produced with the help of an Interagency Work Group led by AHRQ and submitted on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).