Framing the Problem: The Case for Performance Improvement in Addressing Minority Health and Health Disparities

In response to requirements under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (‘modernized' in 2010) and a program assessment conducted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2005, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) has taken a series of actions to effect – for itself, its partners, and other stakeholders -- a rational, systematic, and science-driven approach to the planning, conduct, and evaluation of minority health-/health disparities-related efforts to ensure evidence of intervention effectiveness of such efforts and further ‘grow' the science regarding ‘what works.' This presentation will provide a brief overview of the initial GPRA requirements, key differences in the recently passed Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, the findings of OMB's assessment of OMH, and the concerted steps completed to date by OMH to establish a Performance Improvement and Management System (PIMS) as a component of its management infrastructure. The overview will also include a demonstration of how the individual and collective components of the PIMS are inter-related and reflective of the systems-oriented and logical approach of the Strategic Framework for Improving Racial/Ethnic Minority Health and Eliminating Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities, as well as how the PIMS and its components have been and can be used by OMH's grantees, HHS and other Federal entities, and other partners and stakeholders in an effort to coordinate and effect performance measurement, improvement, and reporting more broadly.