New Directions in Health Care

This episode focuses on a new report evaluating how well the nation cares for its kids. Producer Sandy Hausman explores why children's coverage has improved in 35 states despite the recession, what states can learn from each other, and how health reform can help.

Americans usually know what they can expect to pay for products�and most understand that you get what you pay for�but when it comes to health care, that's not the case. This episode looks at how sharing information about quality and costs with the public, payers, and health care professionals may change the way health care is delivered.

Sandy Hausman reports on the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, a Commonwealth Fund-supported demonstration project designed to help clinics that serve low-income patients become medical homes.

Today, many primary care practices are sharing clinical and technical services with other providers so that they can become certified medical homes, which provide patients with coordinated, around-the-clock care. In Massachusetts, 95 percent of pediatric practices rely on the Child Psychiatry Access Project for guidance in mental health care.

Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis discusses how the Affordable Care Act might improve U.S. health system performance relative to six other industrialized countries surveyed by The Commonwealth Fund.

This episode of the New Directions in Health Care series looks at the findings from a survey of federally qualified health centers. Community health centers are the core of the ambulatory care safety net�serving some 16 million Americans, regardless of their ability to pay.

This episode of the New Directions in Health Care series looks at the costs of providing medical services in other parts of the world and considers how health care reform might change the bottom line in this country. It explores ways in which proposed health reforms in Congress�such as an emphasis on primary care and new approaches to delivery and payment�could help ensure value for our health care dollars.

After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans had "an unprecedented opportunity to redefine its health system." This episode looks at the network of safety-net clinics that was created following the disaster, and how many of these clinics have become medical homes that provide coordinated, accessible, and affordable primary care.

It's been three years since Massachusetts implemented sweeping health reform. In this episode, Sandy Hausman looks at how satisfied consumers, employers, and physicians are with the new system. Key players also discuss how a good public education campaign and a general spirit of cooperation contributed to the program's success.

Over the last 20 years, the quality of life and care in nursing homes has improved dramatically. But some experts say federal and state regulations of nursing homes can get in the way of these important changes, if caregivers and home operators see surveyors�who visit homes to make sure they are complying with standards�as the enemy. A new Commonwealth Fund report suggests that state inspectors could, in fact, be agents of change.

More than 13.2 million young adults in the U.S. have no health insurance coverage, finds a Commonwealth Fund study. While many young adults are healthy, this age group is in need of preventive care for the chronic conditions so many Americans develop. Learn how federal and state policies can help keep young people insured.

Given the tightly packed schedules of health care providers, there can be a lag time of as long as a decade in getting national recommendations into practice. Public-private improvement partnerships, a concept developed with Commonwealth Fund support by the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program, provide regional training, site visits, and more, to help with the process of change.

Being discharged from the hospital is something most patients eagerly anticipate, but many patients find themselves back in the hospital far too soon. A new Commonwealth Fund-supported initiative administered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement called STAAR--State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalization--is a multi-state, multi-stakeholder collaborative that aims to reduce rehospitalization rates by 30 percent.

Women are disproportionately affected by health care costs, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study. The study authors say that medical debt--which affects women across all income levels--is forcing many women to skip care or make other sacrifices.

In this episode, producer Sandy Hausman visits a V.A. hospital in Virginia to see how electronic record keeping has improved quality on almost every measure of care. She also talks with the author of a Commonwealth Fund-supported study that provided crucial evidence linking health information technology, such as automated order entry, notes and decision-support, with lower mortality rates as well as lower costs.