My lede:

Twin government reports released in May that track the American health system’s performance show that quality of care has improved at a dilatory 1.4% pace, while markers of racial and ethnic health disparities have stagnated.

“The progress of quality is incredibly slow, and disparities are persisting,” said Ernest Moy, MD, PhD, who directs the team at the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that produces the companion reports on health care quality and disparities (www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr08.htm).

The whole shebang.