Health Affairs

Editor’s note: See additional posts on the Medicare Shared Savings Program Final Rule  and related delivery system and payment reform initiatives by Debra Ness and William Kramer, Lawrence Casalino and Stephen Shortell,  Douglas Hastings, and Mark McClellan and Elliott Fisher. Innovation has revolutionized medicine.  Technology enables us to peer into the depths of the human body to... Read the rest of this entry »

If the United States is to reduce the growth of its debt over the long term, and if Americans are to have access to affordable medical care, we will have to reinvent our health care system to deliver better care and achieve better health at lower costs. This “three-part aim” has animated much policy discussion... Read the rest of this entry »

In 2001, we experienced the unimaginable. In 2011, we know we need to expect the unexpected. Over the past decade, we learned a lot of hard lessons about what it means to be adequately prepared for diseases, disasters and bioterrorism. We’ve made smart, strategic investments, and there’s been a lot of progress to show for... Read the rest of this entry »

As both a Canadian and an analyst who focuses on US healthcare, I have an abiding curiosity in comparisons between the US and Canadian systems, so it was with great interest that I read the recent Health Affairs article by Dante Morra and coauthors entitled “US Physician Practices Versus Canadians: Spending Nearly Four Times As Much Money... Read the rest of this entry »

The burden imposed on our society by type 2 diabetes mellitus has grown dramatically over the last decade.  Greater numbers of people than ever before are being diagnosed with diabetes at younger ages.  These people and their families must face the spectrum of implications brought on by diabetes, including its many associated medical complications. The... Read the rest of this entry »

On July 7, 2011, Health Affairs will unveil its July 2011 issue, “New Directions In Systems Innovations.” The issue explores ongoing innovations in health care organization, delivery and financing across a broad front – from Vermont’s recent passage of single payer legislation, to new responsibilities for hospital boards of trustees as a consequence of the... Read the rest of this entry »

On July 7, 2011, Health Affairs will unveil its July 2011 issue, “New Directions In Systems Innovations.” The issue explores ongoing innovations in health care organization, delivery and financing across a broad front – from Vermont’s recent passage of single payer legislation, to new responsibilities for hospital boards of trustees as a consequence of the... Read the rest of this entry »

Immunizing the world’s children against infectious diseases has dramatically cut childhood death and suffering in recent decades.  In 2010, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates called for a new “Decade of Vaccines” to vault the progress dramatically forward. The June 2011 issue of Health Affairs, sponsored by the Gates Foundation, examines the strategies that will be... Read the rest of this entry »

Healthcare organizations across the country are learning how to adapt to the concept of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Having been closely involved in Intermountain Healthcare’s evolution as a prototype ACO, we offer our experience in making that transition. Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit, integrated, healthcare system serving Utah and southern Idaho. With 23 hospitals,... Read the rest of this entry »

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has saved millions of lives, but now it is in crisis.  A string of revelations about the misuse of its grants to governments in developing countries, culminating in the recent news of the theft of $2.5 million worth of malaria drugs, has led some backers of... Read the rest of this entry »

Immunizing the world’s children against infectious diseases has dramatically cut childhood death and suffering in recent decades.  In 2010, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates called for a new “Decade of Vaccines” to vault the progress dramatically forward. The June 2011 issue of Health Affairs, sponsored by the Gates Foundation, examines the strategies that will be... Read the rest of this entry »

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) said this morning that his committee will not take up a proposal this year to replace Medicare’s defined benefits formula with a “voucher” or “premium support” system in which seniors would shop for private coverage using defined contributions from the federal government. Such a reform proposal... Read the rest of this entry »

Some debates about health care policy represent black and white choices. But others are a more nuanced shade of grey: the new proposals could turn out well, or not so well, depending on how they are implemented. One such reform getting broad-based attention is the creation of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations, or “ACOs,” which are... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note” As David Blumenthal prepares to step down as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, where does the United States stand in the continuing effort to promote widespread adoption of electronic health records? What are the challenges that the next health IT coordinator will face? Health Affairs Blog asked two leading experts to... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note” As David Blumenthal prepares to step down as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, where does the United States stand in the continuing effort to promote widespread adoption of electronic health records? What are the challenges that the next health IT coordinator will face? Health Affairs Blog asked two leading experts to... Read the rest of this entry »

National health care reform passed in 2010 turns health care markets into laboratories for innovation—with calls to implement key changes to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and affordability of health care and increase value for the health care dollar. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, P.L. 111-148) promotes a range of tools to accomplish... Read the rest of this entry »

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government was handed an unprecedented set of tools to forge innovation in health care delivery through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Now, as the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation begins its work, the goal is to achieve the vaunted “Triple Aim” of improving individuals’ experience of... Read the rest of this entry »

The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress (WHCC) will convene April 4-6, 2011 in Washington D.C. with more than 1,800 health care leaders to address the challenges of health care cost, quality and delivery. Health Affairs is a supporting publication for this event, which presents leading-edge case studies and best practices from all industry sectors,... Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday morning, March 8, please join Health Affairs at the W Hotel Washington for a briefing tied to the release of the March 2011 issue of the journal, “Profiles of Innovation in Health Care Delivery.” You can also follow the briefing on Twitter through live Tweets at #HA_Innovation on HA_Events.  Topics covered in the issue... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note: See this subsequent post for an updated speakers list and information on following the event through Twitter. On March 8, 2011, please join Health Affairs for a briefing tied to the release of the March 2011 issue of the journal, “Profiles of Innovation in Health Care Delivery.”  Topics covered in the issue and... Read the rest of this entry »