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The enactment of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act last year sets the stage for health care providers to be able to report medical errors confidentially to designated entities known as “Patient Safety Organizations” (PSOs). How will these PSOs operate? What information will be reported to them, and how will policymakers use the data […]

The U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world. Yet it is clear that by many measures, Americans are not receiving commensurate value for the health care dollars they spend. Is it possible to simultaneously improve health coverage and quality, while generating savings for health care consumers, employers, government and health care […]

Medicare now covers nearly 42 million beneficiaries who are elderly, or who have a severe disability or end stage renal disease. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 made many changes to the program – including the addition of an outpatient prescription drug benefit (“Part D”), which will become effective in January 2006. Understanding this new […]

The costs of caring for the elderly have been growing steadily higher. Spending on Medicare benefits accounted for 17 percent of the nation’s total health care spending in 2004. With baby boomers retiring, and Medicare benefits changing, this percentage is expected to grow in the future. Americans spend approximately $140 billion on long-term care in […]

Wider use of health information technology has been touted as one way to improve the quality of care and reduce medical errors, while reducing the continued rapid growth of health care spending. Providers across the country are already adopting new health IT systems, and many patients have welcomed the trend. Other providers say they can’t […]

With New Orleans largely evacuated and hundreds of thousands of people separated from their regular health care providers, how will Hurricane Katrina’s evacuees attend to their health and health care needs? How will state, federal and local governments coordinate to meet health needs? How will the health infrastructure in Louisiana and in states taking in […]

The National Governors’ Association recently made a series of recommendations that would give states more flexibility in administering Medicaid benefits. In addition, the Medicaid Commission has been tasked with the short-term objective of developing policy options to achieve program savings, and Congress will soon consider changes to Medicaid that could include modifications to Medicaid’s benefits […]

“Cash and Counseling” is a way of allowing individuals receiving personal assistance services through Medicaid to have more control over the services they get and who provides them. The program provides an individualized allowance that beneficiaries can use to hire a personal care assistant of their choice – often a family caregiver – or purchase […]

Pay-for-performance programs have been touted by some as a way to improve the overall quality of care provided to patients, while being criticized by others who fear unintended consequences in attempting to change physician behavior. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has recommended that pay-for-performance be incorporated into Medicare reimbursement policy in a number of areas. […]

Vaccines are among the greatest triumphs of medical science over illness and disease in the past half-century. In the United States, vaccine use has virtually eradicated smallpox and polio and has drastically reduced the incidence of the dangerous—and formerly common—childhood illnesses measles, mumps and rubella. Despite these strides, market forces and policy dilemmas have created […]

Medicare covers nearly 42 million beneficiaries who are elderly, or have a disability or end stage renal disease. Spending on Medicare benefits accounted for 17 percent of the nation’s total health care spending in 2004. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 made many changes to the program including the addition of a prescription drug benefit […]

Health care information about individual patients is one of the least automated aspects of the U.S. economy. Promoting greater access to secure, easily shared electronic health records for all Americans has strong support from the Administration and both parties in Congress. Widely used electronic records would allow health care providers and patients to access information […]