Performance Measures are sets of established standards against which health care performance is measured. Performance Measures are now widely accepted as a method for guiding informed decision-making as a strong impetus for improvement.

A Personal Health Record (PHR) contains the medical and health-related background documents pertaining to a consumer.

The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) is authorized through the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. It is a financial incentive for health care professionals to improve the quality of care that they provide.

Legislation that leads to health and health care disparities, primarily through resource allocation. For example, a county that provides flu shots or childhood immunizations for free or at reduced cost will most likely have fewer cases of influenza than a county that does not provide these services. In another example, the policy decision on the part of the Veterans Administration to provide transportation to and from health care centers will minimize health and health care disparities among veterans.

Primary Care is basic or general health care traditionally provided by doctors trained in: family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine and occasionally gynecology.

Process Improvement comprises techniques and strategies used to make the processes implemented to solve health care problems better. Process improvement can occur in emergency room or hospital settings, as well as in other health-system environments.

A Provider is a professional engaged in the delivery of health services, including physicians, dentists, nurses, podiatrists, optometrists, clinical psychologists, etc. Hospitals and long-term care facilities are also providers. The Medicare program uses the term "provider" more narrowly, to mean participating institutions: hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, etc.

The knowledge, attitudes, practice patterns, communication style and cultural competence of the health care provider that contribute to health and health care disparities. This includes all actions, conscious or unconscious, on the part of the health care provider that can influence their interaction with their patients. In addition, provider factors such as referral patterns also play a role in the healthcare patients may receive. For example, a health practitioner who is fluent in Spanish and English will be able to communicate with Spanish- speaking only patients more easily than an English-speaking only practitioner. Another provider may only refer to one hospital, limiting the hospital-care options available to his or her patients.