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Through its Small Grants Program, the Fund supports efforts to learn from other countries' experiences. Projects in 2004-05 included sponsorship of international sessions at the 2005 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, which showcased innovative approaches to pharmaceutical coverage and costs, models for disease management and coordination of care for chronically ill patients, and broad-scale implementation of electronic health records. A grant to Karen Scott Collins, M.D., at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, will support a cross-national exchange on quality improvement collaboratives for diabetes and depression in New York City's public safety net hospitals and London-based National Health Service hospitals.
Fund support will also enable examination of the changing public/private mix of financing and health care delivery in seven countries. The project, which will be directed by Dov Chernichovsky of Israel's Ben Gurion University, should offer lessons to the United States regarding access, cost containment, and efficiency.
Finally, the Fund sponsored its first international policy briefing in April on Capitol Hill. Held in cooperation with the Alliance for Health Reform, the event—entitled "Weighing the Evidence: Conducting Reviews of Pharmaceuticals in Four Countries"—was attended by more than 200 congressional staff, Washington policymakers, and journalists. Participants learned about innovative policy approaches in the U.K., Canada, and Germany regarding pharmaceutical costs and coverage, as well as a parallel U.S. demonstration project to encourage evidence-based Medicaid drug policy.
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