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 testimony before the Federal Advisory Board on the Affordable Care Act's Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program, The Commonwealth Fund's Sara Collins said that the new health plans hold promise to provide efficient, high-quality care that responds to consumers' needs. The Affordable Care Act provides $6 billion in loans and grants for the development of new nonprofit health cooperatives to be sold as qualified health plans through state insurance exchanges and the individual and small-group insurance markets.
"The experience of health cooperatives in the United States has demonstrated that the most successful organizations have been those with strong links to high-performing, integrated delivery systems that have been able to provide high-quality integrated and coordinated health care," said Collins. "The Department of Health and Human Services can draw on the experience of successful health cooperatives as it lays the ground rules for the development of a substantial number of new organizations across the country."
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Recent Releases
In 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts began paying participating health care provider groups under the Alternative Quality Contract, an alternative to fee-for-service payment in which medical groups receive fixed payments for patient care, plus rewards based on savings generated and performance targets reached. In a study published in the January issue of Health Affairs, Commonwealth Fund–supported researchers found that, at the end of the first year of the contract, spending in all participating groups was below the budget targets and all earned "significant" quality bonuses. Read more »
New on the Web
Users of WhyNotTheBest.org now have access to newly updated data for:
- Nearly 1,000 hospitals on the incidence of central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)—one of the most lethal hospital-acquired complications. CLABSI data are available on WhyNotTheBest.org through a partnership among The Commonwealth Fund, The Leapfrog Group, and Consumers Union.
- Comparative measures of patient safety and hospital quality developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for 12 states—Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. The performance information is the most up-to-date available and includes all payers—Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.
- CMS process-of-care "core" measures as well as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) measures of patient satisfaction.
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Americans usually know what they can expect to pay for products—and most understand that you get what you pay for—but when it comes to health care, that's not the case. This podcast looks at how sharing information about quality and costs with the public, payers, and health care professionals may change the way health care is delivered. Read more »
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As states look for ways to improve health care for people with chronic conditions in order to enhance outcomes and contain long-term costs, the Affordable Care Act offers an important opportunity. Section 2703 of the act provides enhanced federal funding for two years for "health homes" serving Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions. The new issue of States in Action defines health homes, discusses the provision and the latest federal guidance to states, and presents opportunities and options for states to pursue. Read more »
Fellowships
The Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowships in Minority Health Policy are now open to applicants for the 2011–12 fellowship year. This unique fellowship is designed to prepare physicians for leadership roles in formulating and promoting health policies and practices that improve access to high-quality care for minority and other disadvantaged populations. For more information, please visit http://www.mfdp.med.harvard.edu/fellows_faculty/cfhuf/about.html. Read more »