State Health Policies Aimed at Promoting Excellent Systems: A Report on States’ Roles in Health Systems Performance

This report presents findings from the State Health Policies Aimed at Promoting Excellent Systems (SHAPES) project undertaken by the National Academy for State Health Policy with support from The Commonwealth Fund. The project built on the work of  The Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System to explore the roles that States play in influencing key health system components such as insurance coverage, quality of care, and information and provider infrastructures. After conducting surveys of multiple agencies in states across the country, as well as reviewing related literature, the authors found that states are pursuing system improvements across the full spectrum of their authority, including health care purchasing, regulation of providers, reporting of performance data, integration of public health with health care approaches, and improving the availability and affordability of health insurance. Despite this activity, this study finds room for states to do much more. The report also concludes that ongoing efforts to track, study and diffuse information on state activities could accelerate adoption of promising polices and practices. A shorter summary report of themes published by The Commonwealth Fund - States' Roles in Shaping High Performance Health Systems - can be found on the Fund's Web site by clicking here.

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Shapes Report	886.27 KB