HCFA's Racial and Ethnic Data: Current Accuracy and Recent Improvements.(Health Care Financing Administration)

INTRODUCTION

Although the collection and use of race and ethnicity data in public health research has recently become more controversial (Fullilove, 1998; Kaufman, 1999), reliable information on race and ethnicity are still useful to health researchers, physicians, hospitals, and health administrators who strive to provide quality health care to increasingly diverse populations (Watson, 1997; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1993; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). In fact, a number of recent studies using Medicare data have unfortunately…