workers and this shortage disproportionately affects health professional shortage areas where many racial and ethnic minority populations reside. (4) All efforts to reduce health disparities and barriers to quality health services require better and more consistent data. (5) A full range of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care and public health services must be available and accessible in every community. (6) Racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations must be included early and equitably in health reform innovations. (7) Efforts to improve minority health have been limited by inadequate resources in funding, staffing, stewardship, and accountability. Targeted investments that are focused on disparities elimination must be made in providing care and services that are community-based, including prevention and policies addressing social determinants of health. (8) In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services developed the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, two strategic plans that represent the country’s first coordinated roadmap to reducing health disparities. Along with the National Prevention Strategy, Healthy People 2020, and the National Health Care Quality Strategy, as well as critical resources such as the 2012 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, these comprehensive plans will work to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life. (9) The Department of Health and Human Services has also reviewed and advanced updated clinical guidelines and developed other strategic planning documents— (A) to combat health disparities with a high impact on minority populations including the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis