Primary Care: Our First Line of Defense

June 12, 2013 - Touching on some of the critical concepts in health care reform, this brief explains why primary care is so important to patients and also to the country's bottom line.

Health Reform and You

Limits of Readmission Rates in Measuring Hospital Quality Suggest the Need for Added Metrics

June 6, 2013 - Commonwealth Fund–supported researchers examined the change in readmission rates over a two-year period and the relationship between these rates and other commonly used measures of hospital quality.

In Brief

Meeting Meaningful Use Criteria and Managing Patient Populations: A National Survey of Practicing Physicians

June 4, 2013 - In a Commonwealth Fund–supported study, researchers surveyed physicians to learn how many are using electronic health records and the trends and challenges in meeting meaningful-use requirements.

In the Literature

Forging Community Partnerships to Improve Health Care: The Experience of Four Medicaid Managed Care Organizations

April 18, 2013 - This issue brief explores how four managed care organizations serving vulnerable populations are changing the way care is delivered by investing in a strong community presence.

Issue Brief

The Colorado Beacon Consortium: Strengthening the Capacity for Health Care Delivery Transformation in Rural Communities

April 18, 2013 - This case study describes how one of the 17 Beacon sites, the Colorado Beacon Consortium, has strengthened the capacity of local health care providers to exchange health data and transform clinical care.

Case Study

Insurers' Medical Loss Ratios and Quality Improvement Spending in 2011

March 22, 2013 - Health insurance companies reported spending an average of less than 1 percent of the premiums they collected from policyholders in 2011 on activities directly supporting improvement of health care quality, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study.

Issue Brief

Payments in Support of Effective Primary Care for Chronic Conditions

March 18, 2013 - In this Commonwealth Fund–supported article, the authors suggest that "bundled payment" covering all services provided to a patient for treatment of a specific illness or injury would need to be risk-adjusted, so that providers do not have incentives to avoid patients, like those with chronic illness, who can be expected to have higher costs.

In Brief

Ethical Physician Incentives—From Carrots and Sticks to Shared Purpose

March 18, 2013 - The Commonwealth Fund-supported authors of this study recommend using an array of financial and nonfinancial incentives—including performance rankings—to help facilitate a broad "shared-purpose orientation" embraced by all participating clinicians.

In Brief

Quality and Efficiency in Small Practices Transitioning to Patient-Centered Medical Homes: A Randomized Trial

March 18, 2013 - Providing small primary care practices with supports that include more robust electronic health records, on-site care managers, and increased reimbursement helps them become medical homes.

In Brief

Early Adopters of the Accountable Care Model: A Field Report on Improvements in Health Care Delivery

March 13, 2013 - Based on interviews with clinical and administrative leaders, this report describes the experiences of seven accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Fund Report

Publicly Reported Quality-of-Care Measures Influenced Wisconsin Physician Groups to Improve Performance

March 5, 2013 - This Commonwealth Fund–supported study published in Health Affairs analyzed the effect of publicly reported ambulatory care measures for a voluntary consortium of physician groups known as the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality.

In the Literature

Attributing Patients to Accountable Care Organizations: Performance Year Approach Aligns Stakeholders' Interests

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

Aligning Incentives in Medicaid: How Colorado, Minnesota, and Vermont Are Reforming Care Delivery and Payment to Improve Health and Lower Costs

March 1, 2013 - Colorado, Minnesota, and Vermont are working to align incentives between health care payers and providers to improve care delivery and outcomes while controlling costs. This synthesis describes the common drivers of reform across the states and lessons learned.

Case Study

Medicaid Payment and Delivery Reform in Colorado: ACOs at the Regional Level

March 1, 2013 - Colorado is one of a handful of states piloting innovative health care payment and delivery reforms through Medicaid. Under the Accountable Care Collaborative Program, which began enrollment in May 2011, the state Medicaid agency contracts with seven regional organizations to create networks of primary care providers and ensure care coordination for Medicaid enrollees.

Case Study

Medicaid Is One of Multiple Payers in Vermont’s Health Care Reforms

March 1, 2013 - Vermont Medicaid is a key player as the state pioneers multipayer health care delivery and payment reforms. Under Vermont Blueprint for Health, most Medicaid beneficiaries and state residents will be served in 2013 by medical homes with community health teams, with additional support services for Medicaid enrollees with complex conditions.

Case Study