March 8, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund-supported article looks at how Martin's Point Health Care, a Maine-based nonprofit primary care health system, improved care for patients with chronic disease by reorganizing practices around care teams.
In Brief
November 2, 2010 - A Commonwealth Fund study found that by eliminating or reducing copayments for key drugs prescribed for employees at risk for cardiovascular disease, a value-based health insurance program at the U.S.-based firm Pitney Bowes led to modest increases in medication adherence rates.
In the Literature
March 8, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund-supported article looks at the impact of process improvement techniques to promote patient-centered care at a nonprofit health system in Pennsylvania.
In Brief
March 5, 2013 - In a Commonwealth Fund–supported study, researchers evaluated the effects of the two main methods for assigning patients to accountable care organizations: prospective attribution, or assigning patients based on their use of services in the previous year; and retrospective attribution, in which patients are assigned at the end of the performance year.
In the Literature
January 8, 2010 - This study, which seeks to explain the variation in how patients rate their experiences with primary care providers, concludes that individual physicians themselves account for the largest share of this variation, particularly in terms of the quality of their communication with patients and their support for health promotion.
In the Literature
May 1, 2002 - The Commonwealth Fund 2001 International Health Policy Survey indicates that Australians are more satisfied with their health care system than they were three years ago. Findings from the survey show a significant decline over a three-year period in the percentage of Australians calling for a complete rebuilding of their health care system, from around 30 percent in 1998 to less than 20 percent in 2001.
Data Brief
May 1, 2003 - The Commonwealth Fund 2002 International Health Policy Survey finds that Australians with health problems are at risk for medical errors and care coordination problems. One of four Australian adults with health problems believed a medical mistake or medication error had been made in their care in the past two years.
Data Brief
May 21, 2004 - The most recent Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey asked hospital executives in five countries—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—for their views of their nation's health care system, the level and quality of their hospitals' resources, and efforts to improve quality of care.
Data Brief
April 8, 2013 - In a Health Affairs article, two former Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellows highlight Australia's fourth-hurdle drug review process as a possible model for the U.S. After testing new drugs for safety, efficacy, and quality, the Australian government assesses for value, and makes coverage decisions accordingly.
In the Literature
June 16, 2006 - Sixty-two percent of uninsured children and two-thirds of uninsured, poor parents qualify for publicly funded health coverage programs but are not enrolled. This Fund report assesses the potential impact of automatically enrolling children and parents.
Fund Report
November 1, 2002 - Medicare+Choice plans cut back on benefits such as prescription drug coverage in 2002 while enrollees faced a 40 percent rise in monthly premiums and substantial cost-sharing increases for their health care.
Issue Brief
January 18, 2003 - Providing evidence of eroding benefits in the Medicare+Choice managed care program, this new study finds that enrollees' average plan premiums and other out-of-pocket costs rose 10 percent in 2003 to $1,964, more than double what they were in 1999.
Issue Brief
December 19, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund–supported study examined data from 26 nursing homes involved in the Interventions to Reduce Care Transfers program, which provides nursing homes with training, tools, and resources for reducing unnecessary hospitalization.
In Brief
December 1, 1997 - The authors warn that if the changes to Medicare's home health policy brought about by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 are not implemented with caution and continually monitored, access to care may be restricted for Medicare's most vulnerable beneficiaries: poor, frail elders who need a complex mix of acute and long-term care services.
Fund Report
December 1, 1997 - The author examines the effects the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 will have on graduate medical education (GME), including: phasing out Medicare support for GME from premiums paid to managed care plans and paying it directly to teaching hospitals that care for Medicare managed care patients; capping the number of residents for which Medicare will provide support; creating a system of incentive payments that will encourage teaching hospitals to downsize their training programs; and reducing payments to teaching hospitals for indirect medical education costs.
Fund Report