All Publications

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Using Electronic Health Records to Improve Quality and Efficiency: The Experiences of Leading Hospitals

July 2, 2012 - This issue brief examines nine hospitals that recently implemented a comprehensive electronic health record system and finds that the systems facilitate patient safety and quality improvement in many ways.

Issue Brief

Association Between Patient-Centered Medical Home Rating and Operating Cost at Federally Funded Health Centers

June 26, 2012 - This Commonwealth Fund-supported study of federally funded health centers calls for evidence-based payment for medical homes.

In the Literature

Facilitating Improvement in Primary Care: The Promise of Practice Coaching

June 11, 2012 - This issue brief clarifies the essential features of practice coaching and offers guidance for health system leaders, public and private insurers, and federal and state policymakers on how best to structure and design these programs in primary care settings.

Issue Brief

Achieving Better Quality of Care for Low-Income Populations: The Roles of Health Insurance and the Medical Home in Reducing Health Inequities

May 16, 2012 - A new analysis of the Commonwealth Fund 2010 Biennial Health Insurance Survey demonstrates that when low-income adults have both health insurance and a medical home, they are less likely to report cost-related access problems, more likely to be up-to-date with preventive screenings, and report greater satisfaction with the quality of their care.

Issue Brief

Recommended Core Measures for Evaluating the Patient-Centered Medical Home: Cost, Utilization, and Clinical Quality

May 16, 2012 - This Commonwealth Fund data brief describes how more than 70 researchers came together as part of the Patient-Centered Medical Home Evaluators’ Collaborative to identify a set of standardized measures to assess patient-centered medical homes.

Data Brief

Integrating Immigrants into the U.S. Health System

May 11, 2012 - The authors of this Commonwealth Fund-supported study argue that physicians must develop competencies to provide culturally sensitive care to a more diverse patient population.

In Brief

Durable Medical Equipment and Home Health Among the Largest Contributors to Area Variations in Use of Medicare Services

May 8, 2012 - The Commonwealth Fund-supported author of this Health Affairs article examined variations in beneficiaries' use of 13 health care services in 60 communities to investigate: discernible patterns; the extent of variation in service categories across sites; and which services vary to the extent that they account for disproportionate geographic variation in total use.

In the Literature

Performance Improvement in Health Care—Seizing the Moment

April 26, 2012 - In this New England Journal of Medicine article, Commonwealth Fund Commission chair David Blumenthal proposes a coordinated plan that addresses the "root causes of our health care crisis."

In Brief

The Performance Improvement Imperative: Utilizing a Coordinated, Community-Based Approach to Enhance Care and Lower Costs for Chronically Ill Patients

April 26, 2012 - The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System believes the federal government needs a comprehensive, disciplined implementation plan that takes full advantage of the new opportunities provided by the Affordable Care Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The Commission identifes some general principles to help guide this strategic plan.

Fund Report

Preventive Health Services Under the Affordable Care Act: Role of Delivery System Reform

April 16, 2012 - In this article, experts at The Commonwealth Fund examine the role the law will have in increasing the use of preventive health services. The authors estimate that through expanded access to insurance coverage, reduced financial barriers to care, and improved quality of care delivery, an additional 9.8 million patients will receive recommended preventive services.

In Brief

Pay-for-Performance Programs to Reduce Racial/Ethnic Disparities: What Might Different Designs Achieve?

April 9, 2012 - With Commonwealth Fund support, researchers used Hospital Quality Alliance data on more than 4 million patients at 4,500 hospitals to analyze the effects of different pay-for-performance designs on disparities in care between minority and white patients.

In Brief

Advocacy Strategies When Medicaid Pays for Assisted Living Services

April 9, 2012 - The author of this Commonwealth Fund-supported study suggests strategies elder law attorneys can use to advocate for their assisted-living clients when their rights are compromised.

In Brief

Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes

April 6, 2012 - This Commonwealth Fund-supported campaign is reinvigorating efforts to improve the quality of care and quality of life for those living or recuperating in America's nursing homes.

Other

International Learning on Increasing the Value and Effectiveness of Primary Care (I LIVE PC)

April 3, 2012 - This article, based on a Commonwealth Fund/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality international conference on primary care, shows how strong primary care can provide the groundwork for efforts to improve overall care and population health while also controlling costs.

In the Literature

Public Reporting Helped Drive Quality Improvement in Outpatient Diabetes Care Among Wisconsin Physician Groups

March 30, 2012 - Public reporting seems to have driven early adoption of diabetes care improvement interventions and the adoption of multiple, simultaneous interventions over time.

In the Literature