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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Coming Soon
A new Commonwealth Fund issue brief, to be published tomorrow (Feb. 7), will look at the myriad ways in which income affects Americans' access to care. Authored by The Commonwealth Fund’s Sara R. Collins, Ruth Robertson, Tracy Garber, and Michelle M. Doty, the brief reports on findings drawn from the first Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of U.S. Adults. The results provide a baseline against which to measure the effects of the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansions and other efforts to provide more affordable coverage options, starting in 2014. Read more »
Recent Releases
Vulnerable populations, including low-income people, the uninsured, and disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities, have more difficulty obtaining health care, receive worse care, and experience poorer health outcomes than other groups in the United States. To help ensure these populations have access to health care capable of meeting their particular needs, The Commonwealth Fund has created the Program on Vulnerable Populations. In a new blog post, Vulnerable Populations program officer Pamela Riley, M.D., M.P.H., and program associate Cara Dermody describe this grantmaking program and the newly renamed Mongan Commonwealth Fund Fellowship Program (formerly The Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy), which is designed for physicians interested in improving health care systems for vulnerable populations. The fellowship was named in memory of James J. Mongan, M.D., a member of The Commonwealth Fund's board of directors and chairman of its Commission on a High Performance Health System. Read more »
Events
We invite you to join the AcademyHealth Long-Term Care Interest Group Policy Seminar, sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, on February 15, 2012. The seminar, held in conjunction with the National Health Policy Conference, will focus on states’ efforts to rebalance long-term care supports and services toward residents living in the community. Chuck Milligan, J.D., M.P.H., deputy secretary of health care financing, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will present on this issue and the implications of the Affordable Care Act. To learn more and register, visit http://www.academyhealth.org/Events/events.cfm?ItemNumber=7976. Read more »
The Disability Research Interest Group (DRIG) invites abstract submissions by both early-career and senior investigators for presentation at the DRIG meeting, to be held June 23 in conjunction with AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting. This year’s meeting, which is supported by The Commonwealth Fund, will focus on issues related to dual eligibility (i.e., simultaneous receipt of Medicare and Medicaid benefits) among adults under age 65 with disabilities. However, the DRIG is interested in reviewing any submissions related to policy and health issues encountered by people with: physical, sensory, intellectual, or learning disabilities; psychiatric (including but not limited to PTSD or depression) or other neurological disabilities; or disabilities resulting from chronic illnesses. Abstracts must be submitted online by February 15, 2012. For more information, visit the AcademyHealth site. Read more »
The federal Beacon Community Program is providing grants to 17 communities across the nation to build and strengthen their health information technology (HIT) infrastructure and data exchange capabilities. To demonstrate the impact of HIT on health care quality and costs in these regions, The Commonwealth Fund is supporting a learning network among the participants. As part of this work, a February 14 workshop will bring together Beacon Community evaluation and communications teams with health policy thought leaders and representatives from several national journals to discuss, vet, and refine publication concepts regarding key activities within the communities. Media and other interested parties are invited to attend; for more information, please visit the AcademyHealth site. Read more »
On The Web
Now you can get more insight than ever before on health care performance at the national, state, county, and regional levels. Recent enhancements to the WhyNotTheBest.org interactive map let users zoom in on delivery system reforms, such as Beacon communities and areas where patient-centered medical homes have taken hold, as well as flag health care providers that have been recognized for delivering high-quality care.
New performance data have also been added to the map, including:
- health information technology measures tracking whether hospitals have adopted basic or comprehensive electronic medical record systems;
- prevention quality indicators tracking hospital admissions, by county, for conditions such as diabetes and asthma;
- inpatient quality indicators showing county rates for coronary artery bypass grafts and other procedures;
- patient safety indicators showing county rates for bloodstream infections and other complications of hospital care;
- population health measures assessing the number of Medicare beneficiaries, by region, who have various conditions, such as heart failure; and
- utilization and cost measures assessing regional standardized costs for imaging, lab tests, or emergency department visits among Medicare beneficiaries.
You can also read a blog post discussing how users can drill down into the map to explore health system performance and track delivery system reforms in communities across the nation. Read more »
Visit the Health Reform Resource Center to explore Affordable Care Act provisions and new regulations, as well as Commonwealth Fund publications on the law's impact. While on commonwealthfund.org, explore the new Events section to find webinar recordings and slides, blog posts, e-forums, and other materials related to recent Commonwealth Fund events. Read more »
Visit ChartCart to save or download Commonwealth Fund slides and use them in your presentations. Recent additions include charts from the 2011 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Sicker Adults in Eleven Countries and State Trends in Premiums and Deductibles, 2003–2010. Read more »
Fellowships
Applications for the 2012–13 Harkness Fellowships remain open to individuals from Canada until February 14, 2012. The Commonwealth Fund's Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice provide a unique opportunity for mid-career professionals—academic researchers, government policymakers, clinicians, managers, and journalists—to spend up to 12 months in the United States conducting a policy-oriented research study. Note that the application process for Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom is now closed. Read more »