April 27, 2009 - Nearly all respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey agree that the U.S. must rein in the growth of health care spending, and most believe it is possible to hold the current percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to health care steady over the next decade. In addition, large majorities expressed support for a range of strategies to reduce costs, including many of those outlined in President Obama’s budget blueprint.
Data Brief
April 27, 2009 - U.S. health care costs are excessive, says Francis J. Crosson of the Kaiser Permanente Health Policy Institute. In the end, he says, the most effective policy solutions will be those that seek to change, in a positive way, the "microenvironment" within which physicians practice.
Commentary
April 27, 2009 - In this commentary on the Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey on slowing health care cost growth, Karen Ignagni says that identifying small reductions across all sectors will provide significant relief to individuals and businesses purchasing coverage, improve the solvency of the Medicare trust fund, and free up resources to finance reform, including coverage for all Americans.
Commentary
April 23, 2009 - Young adults are disproportionately represented among people who lack health insurance, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the 45 million uninsured people under age 65, even though they comprise just 15 percent of the population.
Testimony
April 22, 2009 - This report from the National Academy for State Health Policy and The Commonwealth Fund highlights strategies states can use to improve care coordination and case management in the delivery of health services for young children, as well as strengthen linkages between primary care providers and other child and family service providers.
Fund Report
April 21, 2009 - A Commonwealth Fund-supported study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that Medicare coverage reduces racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in heart disease and diabetes outcomes. The authors suggested that providing health coverage to those under age 65 may reduce such disparities among all adults.
In the Literature
April 16, 2009 - An analysis of the organizational and market factors that affect primary care physicians' performance on
patient surveys found that physicians who work in larger groups, particularly integrated medical groups,
performed better on several measures of patients' experiences.
In the Literature
April 15, 2009 - In this Commonwealth Fund issue brief, researchers from the Center for Health Care Strategies illustrate how return on investment (ROI) forecasting can help Medicaid programs allocate resources efficiently and identify ways to maximize value in health care purchasing.
Issue Brief
April 14, 2009 - About two-thirds of U.S. primary care physicians reported that they could not get outpatient mental health services for their patients—a rate that was at least twice as high as for other services, according to a Commonwealth Fund–supported study published by Health Affairs.
In the Literature
April 13, 2009 - Oklahoma Heart Hospital, a for-profit hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla., has consistently demonstrated high adherence to process-of-care or "core" measures and high patient satisfaction.
Case Study
April 13, 2009 - In 2005, under pressure to improve performance on indicators of financial well-being, patient satisfaction, and clinical quality, St. Mary's Health Center leadership made a deliberate decision to focus on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services process-of-care measures, or "core" measures.
Case Study
April 2, 2009 - One of five Medicare beneficiares discharged from the hospital was readmitted within 30 days, and half of patients admitted for reasons other than surgery were readmitted without having seen a doctor in follow-up, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study in the new issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. All together, unplanned rehospitalizations cost Medicare $17.4 billion in 2004.
In the Literature
March 26, 2009 - Even after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, uninsured breast cancer patients at a large safety-net hospital system were more likely than their insured counterparts to be diagnosed with advanced disease requiring more extensive and costly treatment, according to this Fund-supported study.
In the Literature
March 26, 2009 - Pediatric care providers do not routinely screen parents for basic social needs at well-child visits, according to this study of low-income parents and resident providers at a Baltimore pediatric clinic.
In the Literature
March 25, 2009 - This Fund-supported study of 797 hospitals in the Door-to-Balloon Alliance found that designing quality improvement initiatives that appeal to a variety of organizational goals encourages participation.
In the Literature