In this set of papers, American Enterprise Institute scholars consider various market-based approaches to reforming the fee-for-service Medicare program—the “800-pound gorilla of American health care.”
This report from Avalere Health closely examines the efforts of 18 diverse medical professional societies to identify potential cost-cutting measures, and notes trends across the groups' recommendations.
New health care delivery models that reward providers for coordinating and improving care hold promise to reduce costs when treating the sickest, costliest patients in the health care system, according to a study published in JAMA. Researchers from the Dartmouth Atlas Project and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice analyzed a similar model and found participants achieved significant savings and improved quality of care—especially for patients covered by both Medicare and Medicaid.
While the need to address racial and ethnic disparities in care is well known, few strategies for reducing disparities have been studied systematically. A supplement to the Journal of General Internal Medicine, organized by researchers at Finding Answers, offers organizations a new "roadmap" for reducing disparities.
The use of patient-facing health information technology (HIT) platforms, such as personal health records (PHRs) and web portals, holds the promise of engaging patients in their own health care with the ultimate purpose of improving overall quality and health outcomes. Several Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) alliances, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, indicated an interest in exploring how these tools may be implemented for specific projects within their communities.
According to a commentary released by the Journal of the American Medical Association, in order for the national implementation of health information technology (HIT) to be successful, more effective models of care must be identified—whether they be accountable care organizations (ACOs), patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), or some yet to be discovered entity—and the needs of patients and providers must be understood.
Three New Jersey higher education institutions developed a program, ACCESS-MED, to increase the number of minority undergraduates pursuing a medical degree.