Walk into many stores and you’re bound to be impressed by the quality of digital cameras, TVs, cell phones, and other consumer electronics. Every year the quality of these devices improves by leaps and bounds, and consumers often pay less as products improve.

I wish the same could be said about the quality of the health care in America. A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), found that we—patients, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, health insurers, and others—are taking only baby steps when it comes to making health care safer and more effective.

The agency’s 2007 “National Healthcare Quality Report” found that overall quality improved by an average of 1.5 percent per year between 2000 and 2005. This shows that the quality of health care—which ranges from treating diabetes to protecting patients from medical errors—is just not improving fast enough.

A sister report, the 2007 “National Healthcare Disparities Report,” also shows what many of us already know: Poor Americans and minorities often receive lower quality care. This can happen when people don’t have health insurance. Because they don’t have regular doctors or get needed tests, by the time they get treatment, their medical conditions may have gotten much worse.

Here are some other important facts from both reports:

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