June 18, 2009 -
This June 11 event cosponsored by The Commonwealth Fund and Consumers Union features speakers Neera Tanden, senior policy advisor for the Department of Health and Human Services, Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, Jim Guest, president and CEO of Consumers Union, Sara Collins, assistant vice president at The Commonwealth Fund, and three Americans coping with inadequate health insurance and high health care costs.
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Video
June 17, 2009 -
Being discharged from the hospital is something most patients eagerly anticipate, but many patients find themselves back in the hospital far too soon. A new Commonwealth Fund-supported initiative administered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement called STAAR--State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalization--is a multi-state, multi-stakeholder collaborative that aims to reduce rehospitalization rates by 30 percent.
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Podcast
June 4, 2009 -
What is actually meant by a health insurance exchange and how might it work? Watch this e-forum, with slides and audio, of a May 11, 2009 Commonwealth Fund/Alliance for Health Reform briefing featuring Nancy Turnbull, Harvard University; Richard Curtis, Institute for Health Policy Solutions; and Linda Blumberg, Urban Institute. Ed Howard of the Alliance for Health Reform and Cathy Schoen of The Commonwealth Fund moderated. Audio courtesy of KaiserNetwork.org.
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E-Forum
May 13, 2009 -
One of the proposals to expand coverage to the more than 45 million uninsured Americans is referred to as the "public plan option." This e-forum, with slides and audio from a April 27, 2009 Commonwealth Fund/Alliance for Health Reform Briefing, features Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund; Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans; John Holahan, Urban Institute; and Stuart Butler, The Heritage Foundation. Ed Howard of the Alliance moderated. Audio courtesy of KaiserNetwork.org.
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E-Forum
May 11, 2009 -
Women are disproportionately affected by health care costs, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study. The study authors say that medical debt--which affects women across all income levels--is forcing many women to skip care or make other sacrifices.
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Podcast
May 1, 2009 -
The latest webcast in the "Talking Health" series, presented by the Association of Health Care Journalists, The Commonwealth Fund, and the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, was streamed live on Friday, May 1, at 2:30 p.m., E.D.T. This episode featured two health policy experts: Cathy Schoen, senior vice president for research and evaluation at The Commonwealth Fund, and Bruce M. Bullen, chief operating officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Noam Levey, a reporter in the Washington Bureau of the Los Angeles Times, and Reed Abelson of The New York Times, provided his insights and suggestions for reporters covering what will be a major story in the coming months.
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Video
April 17, 2009 -
Watch the highlights of the ministers' roundtable from The Commonwealth Fund's 2008 International Symposium, "Toward a High Performance Health Care System: Best Practices for Achieving Access to Care and Value for Money." Participants included Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; The Rt. Honorable Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health, England; The Honorable Ab Klink, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, The Netherlands; The Honorable Thomas Zeltner, Secretary of State for Health, Switzerland; Franz Knieps, Director-General of Health Care, the Federal Republic of Germany; Stephen McKernan, Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health, New Zealand; Laurent Degos, Chair, Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS)/French National Authority for Health; Karen Dodds, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Canada; and David Learmonth, Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Ageing, Australia.
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Video
April 7, 2009 -
In this episode, producer Sandy Hausman visits a V.A. hospital in Virginia to see how electronic record keeping has improved quality on almost every measure of care. She also talks with the author of a Commonwealth Fund-supported study that provided crucial evidence linking health information technology, such as automated order entry, notes and decision-support, with lower mortality rates as well as lower costs.
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Podcast
March 25, 2009 -
This State Health Research and Policy Interest Group Breakfast, held February 3, 2009, addressed state approaches to improving quality while cutting costs. Panelists were Trish Riley, Director, Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance, Maine; Philip W. Magistro, Director, IT, Governor's Office of Health Care Reform, Pennsylvania; and Aaron McKethan, Ph.D., Research Director, The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, The Brookings Institution. The event was sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, the Georgia Health Policy Center, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives.
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E-Forum
March 17, 2009 -
In this episode, Sarah Klein interviews Dr. A. Mark Fendrick, co-director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design of the University of Michigan, about health insurance that rewards providers for providing high-value care.
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Podcast
March 16, 2009 -
Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes is a group of long-term care providers, caregivers, consumers, and others that has engaged almost half of the nursing homes in the U.S. in its quality improvement efforts. For this episode, Emily Schifrin talked with the organization leadership and frontline workers to find out what has made the campaign so successful.
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Podcast
January 21, 2009 -
This Fund-supported California Quality Collaborative video features 12 physicians who used a variety of techniques to improve their own quality of life and their patients' experiences.
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Video
January 16, 2009 -
Residents, families, and staff say that Green Houses, based on a radically different model for long-term care created by geriatrician Bill Thomas, M.D., make warm, wonderful homes for elders. In this episode, Emily Schifrin visits two new Green Houses, in San Angelo, Texas, for elders with Alzheimer's disease.
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Podcast
January 1, 2009 -
Vida Foubister interviews Howard Tuch, M.D., health policy director at The Hospice of Florida Suncoast in Clearwater, about current issues in the growing field of palliative care.
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Podcast
December 18, 2008 -
Producer Sandy Hausman explains the role retail clinics, which operate in pharmacies, supermarkets and big-box retailers, play in providing basic health care to certain Americans who lack affordable alternatives.
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Podcast