"Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care," Alliance for Health Reform: The issue brief examines recent research on racial and ethnic disparities in health care to determine the extent to which disparities have changed since the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in 2003 began annually reporting on the issue. The brief finds that although disparities are diminishing, they still exist; that there are opportunities for the health care sector to decrease disparities; and that availability of information about health care disparities is improving. In addition, the brief finds that there has been little progress to reduce disparities in cardiovascular and surgical procedures, although disparities have decreased for primary care. The brief concludes that national leadership is required to push for innovations to improve quality of care for racial and ethnic minorities and "to take actions that reduce disparities in clinical practice, health professional education and research" (Alliance for Health Reform, "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care," November 2006).