Improving health disparities in PA practices: A quality improvement initiative

To assess a quality improvement initiative designed to highlight awareness of health disparities and improve healthcare practices among participants.

Data were collected from 102 clinically practicing PAs over a 2-year timespan via the quality improvement initiative Outside the Box: Reducing Health Disparities. As part of the program, participants reviewed 10 random charts in their practice, documenting how they identified and/or managed common health disparities. Then, participants reviewed the educational materials provided and implemented practice-specific interventions. Thirty days after the initial review, a second random review of charts was executed.

Postintervention results showed statistically significant moderate- to large-sized quality improvement across most categories.

This study demonstrates that Outside the Box participation was associated with practice quality improvements among participants in several domains that are known to experience health disparities. Results suggest that increasing awareness of ideal professional behaviors can result in quality improvements in practices.