Publications

We produce more than 100 publications a year, all free and most listed in PubMed. We also produce The Commonwealth Fund Digest, designed to keep our audience up-to-date on Fund research and publications, and an online Annual Report.

New State Health Care Scorecard: Sharp Differences in Access, Quality, Avoidable Hospitalizations, and Cost Across U.S.

October 8, 2009 - The cost and quality of health care, as well as access to care and health outcomes, continue to vary widely among states, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System's second state scorecard report. The states that led in the first state scorecard, released in 2007, generally continued to lead, often setting new benchmarks and widening the gap between leading and lagging states.

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Promoting Health Reform Through State Insurance Regulation

November 6, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund issue brief examines an unprecedented use of state health insurance regulatory authority to promote health system reform. In Rhode Island, regulators have used this authority to implement a set of standards to promote increased affordability through a series of requirements aimed at strengthening and expanding the state's primary care infrastructure.

International Survey: U.S. Lags in Access, Quality, Use of Health IT

November 5, 2009 - A new Commonwealth Fund survey of primary care physicians in 11 countries reveals that the United States lags far behind other countries in key areas of access, quality, and use of health information technology—undermining doctors' efforts to provide timely, high-quality care.

Nurses Involvement in Nursing Home Culture Change: Overcoming Barriers, Advancing Opportunities

November 3, 2009 - To be successful, "culture change" initiatives—efforts to help nursing homes transform from institutional hospital-like settings to homes that focus on residents' preferences—depend critically on the care provided for and directed by nursing homes' professional nursing staff.

Primary Care and Accountable Care—Two Essential Elements of Delivery System Reform

November 3, 2009 - By combining the core tenets of primary care with high-tech practice innovations like electronic medical records, the patient-centered medical home model can improve quality of care and lower costs. However, it faces several challenges. How can it provide incentives for outside providers to work collaboratively with primary care clinicians? And, how can primary care practices share in the savings that result from decreased need for such services as hospitalizations or emergency room treatment?