RWJF produces ADVANCES®, a quarterly newsletter reporting on the Foundation’s programs, priorities and people. To subscribe to ADVANCES, or to register to receive RWJF publications or e-mail alerts, visit www.rwjf.org/services.

Each year the Foundation and our grantees produce materials that reflect our philanthropic investments. Below is a sampling—books, book chapters, journal articles, reports, audiovisuals and newsletters—produced in 2004. Copies may not be available throughthe Foundation.

Asch SM, McGlynn EA, et al. “Comparison of Quality of Care for Patients in the Veterans Health Administration and Patients in a National Sample.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 141(12): 938–945, 2004.

Asch and colleagues compared the quality of outpatient and inpatient care between a national sample of patients and VHA patients. They found that VHA patients were more likely to receive recommended care than the patients in the national sample, even after controlling for age, number of acute and chronic conditions and number of outpatient visits. These findings suggest that the systems implemented by the VHA are having an impact on the quality of care it is able to provide.

Bellows J and Sullivan MP. Background Paper: Could a Quality Index Help us Navigate the Chasm? Oakland, CA: Kaiser Permanente, Institute for Health Policy, 2004. Available at: www.kpihp.org/areas/Quality/background%20final.pdf.

This paper was developed for participants attending an April 2004 conference, supported by RWJF and others, to discuss the organization and improvement of clinical quality measures, primarily through the use of multivariate quality indices.

Center to Advance Palliative Care. A Guide to Building a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program. Meier D. (ed.). New York: Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2004. Available at: https://www.capc.org/capc_store/.

This manual provides step-by-step planning and implementation instruction, as well as tools, guidelines, and sample policies and procedures to help build a hospital-based palliative care program.

Gold M. Geographic Variation in Medicare Per Capita Spending: Should Policy-makers Be Concerned? The Synthesis Project, Research Synthesis Report No. 6, 2004. Available at: www.rwjf.org/publications/synthesis/reports_and_briefs/pdf/no6_researchreport.pdf.

This synthesis explores the factors contributing to variation and discusses their policy implications. Key findings include: (1) more than half of the geographic variation in Medicare spending is due to differences in health care utilization; (2) people living in areas with more hospitals and doctors relative to population receive more services; and (3) higher spending is not associated with better care.

Katon W, Von Korff M, et al. “Behavioral and Clinical Factors Associated with Depression Among Individuals with Diabetes.” Diabetes Care, 27(4): 914–920, 2004.

This study examines the behavioral and clinical characteristics of diabetes that are associated with depression.

Morrison RS and Meier DE. “Palliative Care.” New England Journal of Medicine, 350(25): 2582–2590, 2004.

The article outlines the importance of physician-patient communication and other components of palliative care. It also highlights new guidelines that indicate the growing demand for high-quality care at the end of life.

Shames RS, Sharek P, et al. “Effectiveness of a Multi-Component Self-Management Program in At-Risk School-Aged Children with Asthma.” Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, 92(6): 611–618, 2004.

This study concludes that a multi-component educational, behavioral and medical intervention targeted at high-risk, inner-city children with asthma can improve asthma knowledge and quality of life.

Sullivan AM, et al. “End-of-Life Care in the Curriculum: A National Study of Medical Education Deans.” Academic Medicine, 79(8): 760–768, 2004.

This survey of associate deans for medical education or curricular affairs in the United States shows strong support for end-of-life care education and suggests a potential for meaningful change in the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Wennberg JE, Fisher ES, et al. “Use of Medicare Claims Data to Monitor Provider-Specific Performance Among Patients With Severe Chronic Illness.” Health Affairs (Web Exclusive), 2004. Available at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.var.5v1.

This study illustrates that Medicare claims can be used to measure population-based, provider-specific rates of resource inputs, utilization and Medicare spending. Striking variations are documented in resource inputs and use of services during the last six months of life. The authors believe that hospital-specific measures can be helpful in identifying providers with acceptable quality indices who are also relatively efficient in managing chronic illness.