Health Care Quality and Delivery System Reform

Dartmouth study shows that large multispecialty group practices provide higher quality medical care at lower cost

Posted on May 13, 2010

In a study published in Health Affairs, Dartmouth researchers find that “group physicians affiliated with the [Council of Accountable Physician Practices] provided higher-quality care at a 3.6 percent lower annual cost” than those who were not part of an accountable care organization.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/29/5/991

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HHS awards funds to establish a Center of Excellence in Research on Disability Services, Care Coordination and Integration

Posted on May 7, 2010

The Department of Health and Human Services announced May 6 that it has awarded six million dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. to establish a Center of Excellence in Research on Disability Services, Care Coordination, and Integration.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/05/20100506a.html.

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CMS issues first year incentive payments from home health pay-for-performance demonstration

Posted on May 6, 2010

CMS announced that it will share more than $15 million in savings with 166 home health agencies that participated in a pay-for-performance demonstration project. “This demonstration,” says a CMS press release, “is part of CMS’ value-based purchasing initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of care furnished to Medicare beneficiaries.”

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Health Information Technology – Adoption Incentives

Posted on May 3, 2010

The health reform law makes no major revisions to provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to move the nation toward a national health information policy and create incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (HIT). However, because the adoption and use of HIT is foundational to the implementation of many aspects of health reform, this entry summarizes the key provisions of the 2009 law.

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The Community Health Centers and National Health Service Corps Fund

Posted on April 15, 2010

Permanently authorizes, and provides funding for, the Community Health Centers program and the National Health Service Corps.

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