Findings Brief

test

Measuring the Value of Public Health Systems

Key Findings:

While defining and measuring the value of public health services is challenging, it is also essential.
Governmental public health systems, which are designed to assess and respond to threats to the public’s health, must be appropriately measured in order to demonstrate a measurable contribution to society.
Cost-utility analysis (CUA) has considerable potential as a technique for measuring the value of public health services.

Download:

HCFOfindings0108.pdf

Vol. XI, No. 1

January 2008

HCFO

How can the value of public health services be defined and measured? Peter Jacobson, J.D., and Peter Neumann, Sc.D., led a HCFO grant in PHSR and found that defining and measuring the value of PHSR is challenging yet essential and that cost-utility analysis has potential to provide the technique for measuring the value of PHSR. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Measuring the Value of Public Health Systems

Topic:

Public Health Systems

Measuring Partnerships in Public Health

Key Findings:

Community-based organizations, public health departments, and direct service health care providers tend to dominate public health collaboratives.
Three dimensions for assessing the value of a partner are power and influence, active involvement, and resources.
Two important factors in developing positive and successful public health collaboratives are trust among partners and reciprocity.

Download:

HCFOfindings0209.pdf

February 2009

HCFO

What does good connectivity mean in public health partnerships and how can it be measured? Danielle Varda, Ph.D. explored this idea in her HCFO grant in PHSR and found that the dimensions for assessing the value of a partner are power and influence, active involvement, and resources. Additionally, she found that public health collaboratives are dominated by community-based organizations, public health departments, and direct service health care providers. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Understanding and Assessing Partnership Connections in Public Health Departments

Topic:

Public Health Systems

Is Health Information Technology Associated With Patient Safety in the United States?

Key Findings:

Estimates using national data provide tentative evidence of a positive relationship between health information technology (HIT) and clinical quality. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are associated with a statistically significant aversion of two post-operative infections per year at the average U.S. acute care hospital.
The study found no significant relationships for two other types of HIT — nurse charting and picture archiving communication systems (PACS) — or for two other measures of patient safety — post-operative hemorrhages/hematomas and post-operative pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis (DVT) — which could reflect either the true value of the HIT or limitations of the study.

Download:

findings0409.pdf

April 2009

HCFO

Grants:

The Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology: Computerized Physician Order Entry

Topic:

Costs and Cost Containment

Topic:

Health Information Technology

Topic:

Quality of Care

Investment Returns and Size of Damage Caps Impact Rising Cost of Malpractice Premiums

Key Findings:

A national cap of $250,000 could save 8 percent on total malpractice premiums, or $1.4 billion annually.
The level of damage caps makes a difference; caps of more than $500,000 increased premiums.
Investment returns affect malpractice premiums.
No other tort reform had significant effects on premiums.

Download:

HCFOfindings0407.pdf

Vol. X, No. 4

April 2007

HCFO

How do damage caps impact the rising cost of malpractice premiums? This study by Michael Morrisey, Ph.D., Meredith Kilgore, Ph.D., and Leonard Nelson, J.D., examined the effects of tort law and insurance investment returns on physician insurance premiums and found that damage caps at the national level could save a significant amount of money annually. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Medical Malpractice Reform and Implications for Health Insurance Costs

Topic:

Costs and Cost Containment

Topic:

Insurance Coverage

Topic:

Legal and Regulatory Environment

Topic:

Provider Payment and Behavior

Informing the Debate: Are Single Specialty Hospitals More Cost Efficient than Full-Service Hospitals?

Key Findings:

Overall, single specialty hospitals (SSHs) are not more cost efficient than competing, full-service, acute care hospitals.
There was not a significant difference between cardiac SSH and full-service hospital cost inefficiency.
There was a significant difference between orthopedic/surgical SSH and full-service hospital cost inefficiency.

Download:

HCFOfindings1008.pdf

October 2008

HCFO

Can physician-owned, single specialty hospitals (SSHs) promote competition within local health care markets and subsequently decrease costs and improve quality? Kathleen Carey, Ph.D., and colleagues examined whether SSHs were more cost efficient than competing, full-service hospitals and found that SSHs, including cardiac and orthopedic hospitals, are not more cost efficient than full-service, acute care hospitals. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Single Specialty Hospitals and Competition in the Hospital Industry

Topic:

Acute Care

Topic:

Costs and Cost Containment

Topic:

Organization and Supply of Care

Improving Access to Improve Quality: Evaluation of an Organizational Innovation

Key Findings:

The combination of increased access to providers, new information technology (IT), and physician payment incentives in health care systems can lead to increases in patient satisfaction, physician productivity, and lower health care costs without affecting provider continuity and clinical quality of care. However, such changes may decrease physician job satisfaction.

Download:

HCFOfindings0808.pdf

Vol. XI, No. 5

August 2008

HCFO

What is the combined impact of the Group Health Cooperative (GHC) Access Initiatives on improving health care quality? David Grembowski, Ph.D., and colleagues studied the effectiveness of these initiatives on utilization, costs, and satisfaction and found that they increase patient satisfaction, improve physician productivity and lower health care costs without affecting provider continuity and clinical quality. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Improving Access to Improve Quality: Evaluation of an Organizational Innovation

Topic:

Access

Topic:

Health Information Technology

Topic:

Organization and Supply of Care

Topic:

Provider Payment and Behavior

Topic:

Quality of Care

HCFO Findings Brief: Geographic Variation in Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Services Utilization: What is the Role of Physician Practice Patterns?

Key Findings:

The researchers found that psychiatrists, in comparison with non-psychiatrist physicians, had a lower assessment of their overall ability to provide patients with the quality of care they believe necessary.
The findings also indicate that patients' personal characteristics may explain greater variation in treatment and assessment of ADM conditions than geographic variation.

Download:

findings1107.pdf

Vol. X. No. 7

November 2007

HCFO

Why do geographic variations exist in the use and quality of alcohol, drug, and mental health (ADM) care? Thomas Belin, Ph.D. and colleagues examined ADM disorders across geographic regions and found that patients' personal characteristics may help to explain the variation in treatment of AMD conditions. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Geographic Variation in Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Services Utilization: What is the Role of Physician Practice Patterns?

Topic:

Behavioral Health

Topic:

Organization and Supply of Care

Financial Relief: The Effect of State Mental Health Parity Laws on Families of Children with Mental Health Care Needs

Key Findings:

Families of children with mental health care needs who live in states with mental health parity laws have lower out-of-pocket spending and are more likely to view their spending as reasonable compared with those living in non parity states. This suggests that mental health parity laws provide important financial benefits to families of children with mental health care needs.

Download:

findings0807.pdf

Vol. X, No. 6

August 2007

HCFO

What are the financial effects of state mental health parity laws on families of children with mental health needs? Susan Busch Ph.D., and colleagues examined the impact of state mental health parity laws on out-of-pocket spending of families with children needing mental health care and found that these laws lowered the out-of-pocket costs of a family in this situation. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Effect of State Parity Laws on Children with Mental Health Care Needs

Topic:

Behavioral Health

Topic:

Legal and Regulatory Environment

Topic:

Vulnerable Populations

Early Experiences with Federal Health Insurance Tax Credits

Download:

findings0907.pdf

Vol. X, No. 7

September 2007

HCFO

What can be learned from the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) passed by Congress in 2002 in the context of the current discussion about tax credits for health care and what insights can it provide for future tax credit policies? Karen Pollitz, M.P.P., examined early experiences of the HCTC and found that because of the complexity of the program, the HCTC has returned mixed results. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

Monitoring the Early Experience with Federal Health Insurance Tax Credits

Topic:

Insurance Coverage

Topic:

Legal and Regulatory Environment

Design of a Pharmacy Benefit for Low-Income Seniors: Lessons from State Pharmacy Assistance Programs

Download:

findings0107.pdf

Vol. X, No. 1

January 2007

HCFO

What lessons can be learned from state prescription drug coverage programs for the low-income elderly that existed prior to Medicare Part D? Cindy Thomas, Ph.D., and colleagues found that different enrollment and plan features impacted prescription use, generic utilization, and spending patterns. Learn more in the HCFO Findings Brief.

Grants:

The Role of Benefit Design in Enrollment, Use and Spending in State Prescription Drug Assistance Programs for Seniors - Lessons for Medicare

Topic:

Medicare