Effective Care includes health care services that are of proven value and have no significant tradeoffs. The benefits of the services so far outweigh the risks that all patients with specific medical needs should receive them. These services, such as beta-blockers for heart attack patients, are backed by well-articulated medical theory and strong evidence of efficacy, determined by clinical trials or valid cohort studies.

Qualities or contaminants of living and working surroundings that contribute to health and health care disparities such as poor air quality, crime, contaminated water, and exposure to toxic chemicals. For example, population differences in the incidence of asthma may be due, in part, to differences in exposure to chemicals that cause certain allergies. They may also be due, in part, to the lack of exposure to certain germs when children are young. If environments are different for different groups of individuals, sometimes their health will be different too. Environmental differences may be an important reason for health disparities. They may also be an important reason for health care disparities if, for example, people living in high crime areas are too afraid to travel to the doctor or hospital and so don't get the same care as people who live in safer neighborhoods. Environmental factors in combination with individual, social and health system factors lead to health and healthcare disparities.

A quality or affiliation resulting from similar racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage. While race is a biological concept, ethnicity is a cultural one. However, the two overlap. Ethnic characteristics are sometimes incorrectly believed to be racial; however, while ethnicity is subject to modification over time, racial identity persists over generations. (Source: Maciones, John J. Sociology, Chapter 14).

Evidence-Based Medicine is the use of the current, best available scientific research and practices with proven effectiveness in daily medical decision-making, including individual clinical practice decisions, by well-trained, experienced clinicians. Evidence is central to developing performance measures for the most common and costly health conditions. The measures allow consumers to compare medical providers and learn which ones routinely offer the highest quality, safest and most effective care.