April 28, 2011 - Health information technology can help reduce fragmentation of health care and improve coordination of services, but it is unclear what the optimal strategies for implementing and sustaining HIT are.
In Brief
March 31, 2011 - In this Commonwealth Fund–supported study, researchers used direct observation of well-child visits to evaluate their duration and content, adherence to Bright Futures guidelines, and differences between visits with children who have special health care needs and visits with children who do not.
In Brief
March 29, 2011 - This issue brief highlights strategies that can increase resources among smaller primary care practices, such as sharing clinical support services and information systems with other practices. The authors focus on models supported by states, the private sector, and the Affordable Care Act.
Issue Brief
March 17, 2011 - This new Commonwealth Fund report explores how a system of shared supports can ensure that the independent, typically underresourced physician practices that serve a high volume of Medicaid patients is able to deliver a full range of medical home services.
Fund Report
March 8, 2011 - With its promise of enhanced federal funding, the Affordable Care Act can help states reorient their systems of long-term care away from nursing homes and institutional care and toward a greater emphasis on home- and community-based services.
In the Literature
February 4, 2011 - The Affordable Care Act provides incentives for providers to form accountable care organizations (ACOs) as a way to encourage care coordination and reduce health costs. A new report examines key ways in which states have supported development of the ACO model, focusing on Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Fund Report
February 3, 2011 - To glean lessons relevant to the U.K. government’s expansion of the Sure Start early childhood intervention program, Commonwealth Fund–supported researchers examined the experience of two similar programs in the U.S., Head Start and Early Head Start.
In Brief
February 2, 2011 - A new Commonwealth Fund state-by-state scorecard evaluating how the health care system is working for children finds that federal and state action on behalf of children has helped preserve, and even expand, health coverage for this group, despite the severe recession. Yet across the states, wide differences persist in coverage rates, the affordability of health care, children's receipt of preventive care and treatment, and their opportunity to lead healthy lives.
Fund Report
December 23, 2010 - This Commonwealth Fund/National Academy for State Health Policy report examines Affordable Care Act provisions that support state system improvement goals and profiles efforts in 10 states: Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
Fund Report
December 15, 2010 - This report examines the roles states are playing to reorganize the delivery of primary and chronic care to produce more efficient and effective care for patients and providers, particularly in small practices.
Fund Report
December 3, 2010 - The Commonwealth Fund started Healthy Steps for Young Children in 1995 to develop and test a model of preventive pediatric care for children from birth to age 3 that emphasized child behavior and development. This report looks at some of the past trials the model has faced and the new potential for the project under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Fund Report
September 14, 2010 - Help Me Grow is a unique system that assists families, primary care practices, and other community-based providers in identifying developmental or behavioral concerns in children from birth through age 8; establishes an inventory of appropriate resources; and helps families connect with these programs and services.
Fund Manual
September 10, 2010 - This brief looks at states' efforts to create all-payer claims databases, in order to gather comprehensive information on disease incidence, treatment costs, and health outcomes. These databases are providing essential trend data that will be needed to guide policymakers through the transitions health care reform will bring.
Issue Brief
September 10, 2010 - This brief looks at states' efforts to create all-payer claims databases, in order to gather comprehensive information on disease incidence, treatment costs, and health outcomes. These databases are providing essential trend data that will be needed to guide policymakers through the transitions health care reform will bring.
Issue Brief
September 3, 2010 - This report summarizes lessons from programs in five states that refer families to appropriate community or state programs, help coordinate their care, provide support and follow-up to ensure they receive needed services, and provide a feedback loop to primary care providers.
Issue Brief