Health Affairs

Tim Jost’s analysis of the health reform reconciliation measure led the Health Affairs Blog’s most-read list for March. Jost’s post was followed by Uwe Reinhardt’s discussion of the reform summit at Blair House. Also on the list was an examination of the Minnesota high-risk pool model by Courtney Burke and Lynn Blewett, as well as John Goodman’s review... Read the rest of this entry »

Reducing Medicare Part D drug prices requires careful tools, not simply the power to negotiate

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced yesterday that more than $267 million has been awarded to 28 non-profit organizations to establish Health Information Technology (IT) Regional Extension Centers, desigined to help providers make effective use of electronic health records and other health IT technologies. This investment, funded by the American Recovery... Read the rest of this entry »

Although President Obama has only just signed national health reform into law, the “first wave” of health care reform started a year earlier when substantial federal investments in health information technology (IT) were approved as part of the economic stimulus package. The newly released April issue of Health Affairs looks at what’s happened since passage of... Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago I toured a hospital that had recently adopted computerized physician order entry (CPOE). We visited a patient room on the Med-Surge floor, where a nurse explained what happens in an emergency. Before they adopted CPOE, nurses would run 300 feet down the hall to find the patient’s paper record during a... Read the rest of this entry »

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Pledged $10 Billion in a Call for a Decade of Vaccines In case you missed this announcement, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said that it “will commit $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries.” The press release... Read the rest of this entry »

Adoption and implementation of health information technology (IT) will be key to the success of newly enacted national health reform. Last year, Congress approved health IT subsidies to hospital and medical practices expected to total as much as $29 billion through 2016.  Will this huge federal investment pay off? The April issue of Health Affairs,... Read the rest of this entry »

In a Web First paper published April 1 by Health Affairs, Jason Fletcher of Yale University and coauthors assess the effect of policies, such as vending machine restrictions and taxes on soft drinks, aimed at reducing sugared beverage consumption by students. They conclude that, “as currently practiced, neither vending machine restrictions nor soft drink taxes... Read the rest of this entry »

As always, the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review offers the best in health policy blogging. Rich Elmore at Healthcare Technology News presents the first Wonk Review following the passage of health reform, an event Rich commemorates with many interesting reactions from bloggers (including Jeff Goldsmith on Health Affairs Blog) and more pictures of... Read the rest of this entry »

Since 1987, Health Affairs has published news and insights into health care and health policy philanthropy in its ongoing journal section called GrantWatch. Now GrantWatch has moved to the blogosphere. The new GrantWatch Blog features news and updates about health grant making, particularly as it relates to current health policy issues. Blog content will include information... Read the rest of this entry »