The Commonwealth Fund Connection serves as a roundup of Fund publications, charts, and multimedia added to the Commonwealth Fund Web site in the last two weeks, and also offers links to other timely content.
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What's New
In this recently released statement, The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System calls for a comprehensive, integrated approach to health system reform to reverse the negative trends in performance and provide a more secure future for U.S. families and businesses. Read more »
Recent Releases
Later today, The Commonwealth Fund will release a report analyzing the payment and delivery system reforms in the House health reform bill and the newly merged Senate bill. Currently available are a summary and a chartpack outlining these provisions, as well as their potential impact on health expenditures. Also available is a chartpack from another upcoming Fund report on coverage and affordability provisions in the two bills. Read more »
It is often assumed that high-cost health insurance plans—referred to by some as "Cadillac" plans—provide rich benefits to users. But in this Commonwealth Fund–supported study in Health Affairs comparing high- and low-cost employer-based plans, Jon Gabel of the National Opinion Research Center and colleagues found that benefit design explains only a fraction of the variation in family coverage costs. Read more »
In another Fund-supported Health Affairs study coauthored by Jon Gabel, employer-sponsored health plans were found to be much more affordable, and to offer more comprehensive coverage, than individual market plans. Deductibles average more than $2,100 for individual plans but less than $600 for employer-based plans, the researchers say. Read more »
A Commonwealth Fund–supported study published in Pediatrics that evaluated the use of electronic health records (EHRs) in six early-adopting health care organizations found that EHRs can facilitate the screening of young children for developmental delays and can help flag patients with abnormal results. Read more »
Drawing on a recent Commonwealth Fund report, the authors of this article in Pediatric Annals discuss strategies for coordinating care in medical homes. They report that having committed leadership and a process to shift care delivery from "reactive encounters" to "proactive interactions" are keys to success. Read more »
The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, a Commonwealth Fund project cofunded by eight local foundations and led by Qualis Health and the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation, aims to develop a replicable and sustainable implementation model for medical home transformation. A new newsletter published by Qualis Health, The Medical Home Digest, reports on the activities of this five-state, 68-clinic demonstration project. Read more »
New Multimedia
Upcoming Webcast
Join a live webcast on Monday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m., E.S.T., featuring a panel of experts and journalists who will explore what Medicare beneficiaries think of the program, beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs and coverage choices, and Medicare's long-term prospects. The speakers include: Bruce Vladeck, Ph.D., senior adviser to Nexera, Inc., a consulting subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association, and former administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration; John Rother, executive vice president of policy and strategy for AARP; and Michelle Andrews, a New York–based freelance writer who writes about health care for the New York Times, CBS MoneyWatch.com, and Money. Read more »
Why Not the Best Update
Go to WhyNotTheBest.org to find easily accessible, up-to-date comparative data and resources on health care performance for providers, researchers, and other professionals. Read more »