Effect of quality improvement on racial disparities in diabetes care.

BACKGROUND -- Racial disparities in care are well documented; information regarding solutions is limited. We evaluated whether generic quality improvement efforts were associated with changes in racial disparities in diabetes care. METHODS -- Using insurance claims and electronic medical record data, we identified 5101 whites and 1987 blacks with diabetes mellitus receiving care within a multispecialty group practice from 1997 to 2001. We assessed rates of annual low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level testing, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level control (