title: Taking on racial and ethnic disparities in health care: the experience at Aetna.
abstract: Among the nation's health plans, Aetna is considered the industry leader in efforts to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. This Perspective describes the work of a task force led by Aetna's chairman and CEO, charged with a number of strategic activities including cultural competency training and the identification of disparities occurring within the Aetna membership population. The cornerstone of this quality-of-care initiative is a successful and ongoing data collection enterprise. Aetna is putting the data to work in its chronic disease management, breast health, and African American Preterm Labor Prevention and Breastfeeding programs.
authors.affiliation: Aetna Inc., Hartford, Connecticut, USA. HassettP@aetna.com
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hassett
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005006:Ethnicity; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; D006801:Humans; D007343:Insurance Carriers; D044469:Racial Groups; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States