August 13, 2009 - Gundersen Lutheran Health System is a physician-led, not-for-profit integrated delivery system serving more than 550,000 people. Gundersen Lutheran has increased efficiency, improved patient care, and achieved the high performance associated with large urban institutions.
Case Study
August 13, 2009 - Marshfield Clinic is a not-for-profit, physician-governed multispecialty group practice serving residents of rural Wisconsin through a regional ambulatory care system, an affiliated health plan, and related foundations supporting health research and education.
Case Study
August 13, 2009 - The Mayo Clinic is the world's oldest and largest integrated multispecialty group medical practice, combining clinical practice, education, and research at the regional, national, and international levels for the benefit of individuals with routine as well as complex health care needs.
Case Study
August 13, 2009 - Henry Ford Health System is a vertically integrated health care system in southeastern Michigan whose leadership is committed to systemic integration, clinical excellence, and customer value through the core competencies of collaboration, care coordination, and innovation and learning.
Case Study
August 12, 2009 - Private health plans that enroll Medicare beneficiaries—known as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans—are being paid $11 billion more in 2009 than it would cost to cover these beneficiaries in regular fee-for-service Medicare. The Obama Administration has proposed eliminating these extra payments to private insurers and instituting a competitive bidding system. This study questions the degree to which firms offering MA plans actually face competition.
Issue Brief
August 6, 2009 - Americans enrolled in deductible-based health insurance plans are more likely than those with no deductible to alter their care-seeking behavior, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported survey. Complex benefits design plays a role, the authors say.
In the Literature
August 6, 2009 - Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 represent one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. Often dropped from their parents' policies or from public insurance programs at age 19 or on graduation day, they are left to find insurance on their own while making the often uneasy transition from high school to college or the working world.
Issue Brief
July 31, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund report profiles five safety-net hospitals that made improvements to curb emergency department crowding, reduce long waits, and lower the number of hours spent on ambulance diversion.
Fund Report
July 28, 2009 - Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom all have set up agencies to ensure that their investments in health care, including medications, treatments, and new medical technologies, are yielding ‘value for money’ and to assist health care providers in improving their clinical practice.
Other
July 27, 2009 - By a wide margin, health care leaders believe that individuals should have a choice of public and private health plans, and they also strongly support other central components of health reform, such as innovative provider payment reform and a national insurance health exchange with strong standard-setting authority.
Data Brief
July 27, 2009 - By making a few tweaks to the current health insurance system, we can get millions more Americans the health insurance coverage they need, reduce costs and provide higher-quality care, says U.S. Congressman Michael Burgess (R-TX).
Commentary
July 27, 2009 - In a commentary on The Commonwealth Fund/Modern Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) outlines how key aspects of health reform legislation have roots in her home state.
Commentary
July 23, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund study shows that nearly 40 percent of nonelderly adults with three or more chronic conditions had out-of-pocket expenses and premiums exceeding 5 percent of income for two consecutive years, compared with 20 percent of people who had a single chronic condition and 14 percent who had no chronic conditions.
Issue Brief
July 22, 2009 - The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) was established in 2004 to provide Germany's Federal Joint Committee with evidence-based evaluations of the benefits and cost benefits of health services, and functions in an advisory role.
Issue Brief
July 22, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund issue brief examins the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which was established to perform three core functions: 1) reduce unwarranted variation in practice across the United Kingdom through the development and dissemination of best practice evidence-based standards; 2) encourage fast diffusion and uniform uptake of high-value medical innovations; and 3) ensure the taxpayers’ money is invested in the National Health Service so that health benefit is maximized.
Issue Brief