title: Assessing diversity and quality in primary care through the multimethod assessment process (MAP).
abstract: The U.S. health care system serves a diverse population, often resulting in significant disparities in delivery and quality of care. Nevertheless, most quality improvement efforts fail to systematically assess diversity and associated disparities. This article describes application of the multimethod assessment process (MAP) for understanding disparities in relation to diversity, cultural competence, and quality improvement in clinical practice. MAP is an innovative quality improvement methodology that integrates quantitative and qualitative techniques and produces a system level understanding of organizations to guide quality improvement interventions. A demonstration project in a primary care practice illustrates the utility of MAP for assessing diversity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity, Department of Family Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: Jo Ann
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kairys
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orzano
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stroebel
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: DiCicco-Bloom
authors.forename: Beatrix
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roemheld-Hamm
authors.forename: Fred A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Kobylarz
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Benjamin F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Crabtree
mesh_terms: D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D011361:Professional Competence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States