December 19, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund–supported study sought to test the hypothesis by investigating whether hospital quality is inversely associated with the proportion of minority patients served.
In Brief
December 15, 2011 - This study, coauthored by Commonwealth Fund senior policy analyst Mark Zezza, compared variations in spending and inpatient admissions by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the state's largest health insurer, and Medicare across 32 Texas regions.
In Brief
December 2, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund report profiles eight states that are at different stages in the development and implementation of a medical home program and have relied on different strategies to encourage primary care providers to adopt the model, including developing state medical home qualification standards instead of adopting national standards.
Fund Report
November 14, 2011 - Nearly nine of 10 leaders in health and health care policy say it is important for federal and state policymakers to continue efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act, according to the latest and final Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey.
Data Brief
October 24, 2011 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released its final regulations for accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are organizations made up of groups of health care providers that provide coordinated care. Check out our ACO Resource Page to read Commonwealth Fund publications and blog posts on ACOs.
Other
October 13, 2011 - Safety-net health care providers face particular challenges in coordinating care for their low-income and uninsured patients. This Commonwealth Fund issue brief finds that successful efforts will require flexibility, as well as federal, state, and local financial resources to sustain the safety net and make the investments needed to upgrade capabilities.
Issue Brief
October 5, 2011 - Hospitals marked by low quality and high costs have double the proportion of elderly black patients as high-quality, low-cost hospitals, according to a new study in Health Affairs. Similar disparities were found for elderly Hispanic and Medicaid patients.
In the Literature
September 28, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund report examines how changes in the way federally qualified health centers are financed could support the transformation of these critical safety-net providers into high performing patient-centered medical homes.
Fund Report
August 23, 2011 - This Commonwealth Fund-supported study sought to identify the strategies used by top-performing hospitals that have successfully engaged doctors in quality and safety programs.
In Brief
August 16, 2011 - For this Commonwealth Fund issue brief, the authors interviewed payer and provider organizations and state agencies involved in shared-savings arrangements about their approaches, including the populations and services covered, the assignment of providers, the use of risk adjustment, and the way savings are calculated and distributed.
Issue Brief
July 25, 2011 - This Fund report reports on the implementation of eight private ACOs that use, or are planning to deploy, a shared payer–provider risk payment model. Still in an early developmental phase, these payment models vary in their design and in how they define shared risk.
Fund Report
July 13, 2011 - In invited testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, the Fund's Stuart Guterman discussed how the Independent Payment Advisory Board, created under the Affordable Care Act, can help focus attention on controlling health care spending throughout the health system.
Testimony
July 7, 2011 - The authors of this Commonwealth Fund–supported article on the results of the statewide mobilization strategy at the mid-point of the four year initiative to reduce 30-day rehospitalization rates statewide in Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington.
In the Literature
June 22, 2011 - The Commonwealth Fund-supported authors of this study interviewed quality and financial officers at safety-net hospitals about the impact of a Medicare policy limiting reimbursement for treating avoidable and costly hospital-acquired conditions.
In the Literature
June 21, 2011 - In invited testimony before the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Fund's Mary Jane Koren made several federal-level recommendations that would strengthen the programs that help frail older adults maintain their independence and well-being.
Testimony