- ACA Implementation & State Health Reform
- Coverage and Access
- Federal/State Issues
- Medicaid and CHIP
- Population and Public Health
- Providers and Services
- Acute Care
- Assisted Living
- Behavioral Health
- Child Development Services
- Chronic Care Management
- Community Health Centers
- Developmental Screening
- Early Childhood Services
- EPSDT
- Family Planning
- Federally Qualified Health Centers
- Home & Community Based Services
- Long Term Services & Supports
- Medical Homes & Health Homes
- Mental Health
- Nursing Homes
- Oral Health
- Preventive Care
- Primary Care
- Safety Net Providers
- Quality, Cost, and Health System Performance
- ACOs
- Adverse Event Reporting
- Care Transitions
- Comparative Effectiveness
- Cost Sharing
- Delivery System Reform
- Fraud and Abuse
- Health Care Workforce
- Health Information Technology
- Managed Care
- Medical Homes & Health Homes
- Medical Malpractice
- Patient Safety
- Payment Reform
- Performance Measurement
- Provider Payment Policy
- Quality Oversight
- Specific Populations
- Adolescents
- Childless Adults
- Children
- Children with Special Health Care Needs
- Dual Eligibles
- Elders
- Families
- Low Income People
- Parents
- People with Chronic Conditions
- People with Developmental Disabilities
- Transitional Youth
- Vulnerable Populations
- Young Adults
- Youth
- Youth in Foster Care System
- Youth in Juvenile Justice System
-
States, Primary Care and Health Centers: Fostering Delivery System Changes
NASHP convened a June 2011 forum in Denver, Colorado, that brought together state and federal officials, primary care offices and associations and other key partners to learn from Colorado’s efforts and discuss health centers’ roles and challenges in delivery system reform. This report frames key issues, themes and recommendations that emerged from the forum for states and health centers to support effective delivery system models providing integrated care for vulnerable populations.
November 2011» -
Using Report Cards to Measure Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: State Experience
State agencies identify, document, and act on data related to racial and ethnic health and health care disparities in various ways. One type of document states produce is a “report card,” or a publication that uses data from race/ethnicity-specific measures to assign letter grades that rate the state's performance. This issue brief, prepared by NASHP for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), focuses on New Mexico’s experience using report cards to measure racial and ethnic health disparities.
Click to download the report (PDF).
September 2011 -
Re-Forming Health Care Delivery Systems: A Summary of a Forum for States and Health Centers
In June 2010, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) convened a forum to examine evolving model approaches as well as surface new strategies that could be promoted with federal and state policymakers, foundations and the health center community to help progression toward reformed health systems. This paper presents the vision laid out at the forum for a transformed delivery system. In addition, it offers specific examples of organizations, regions and states that are designing and implementing approaches aligned with this vision, and outlines the strategies identified by participants as important in moving towards a reformed delivery system.
March 2011» -
On the Road to Better Value: State Roles in Promoting Accountable Care Organizations
States are keenly aware of the need to create more coherent and value-driven systems of care through improved payment and delivery systems. The accountable care organization (ACO) model has received increased attention as a mechanism to promote better value in health care spending. This report examines the development of the ACO model in seven states, highlighting five key areas in which states have played a role in supporting the development of the ACO model. It is intended to provide policymakers with information that can stimulate further innovation as states consider using the ACO model within their own health care systems.
February 2011» -
State Documentation of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities to Inform Strategic Action
This report, prepared by NASHP for the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, summarizes how leading states analyze state and federal race/ethnicity data in strategic plans and reports aimed at reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health status and health care. It features Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Utah, but also notes activity in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. Lessons from leading states can provide guidance for others exploring ways to launch or enhance health equity, consumer engagement, quality improvement, or cost containment initiatives.
Read full report here:
January 2011 -
State Strategies to Improve Quality and Efficiency: Making the Most of Opportunities in National Health Reform
There is an acknowledged need for extensive reform to the health care delivery system in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers unprecedented opportunities to transform care delivery, with numerous provisions that support systemic improvements. States have an imperative to greatly improve system efficiency if they are to effectively and sustainably implement the law’s changes, particularly mandatory coverage expansion. This report examines specific Affordable Care Act provisions that support state system improvement goals and profiles efforts in 10 states: Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The report highlights the opportunities and challenges that federal health care reform will bring and offers suggestions for how state and national leaders can streamline implementation.
December 2010» -
State Uses of Hospital Discharge Databases to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities
This report summarizes how leading states that participate in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and their clients use hospital discharge data on patient race/ethnicity to inform state health care disparities reduction activities. The report features California, Florida, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin HCUP Partners, but also notes activity in Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina. Partner States’ experiences demonstrate that patient race/ethnicity data are an important tool for informing state initiatives and producing policy- and practice-relevant publications to support health equity.
September 2010» -
Collaborating with Health Centers to Leverage HIT for System Improvement
Early in 2010, NASHP hosted a webinar that brought together individuals from Massachusetts, Oregon, and Tennessee with experience in collaborating with health centers around Health Information Technology (HIT) activities to discuss ways in which state agencies and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are working together to use HIT and health information exchange (HIE) funding opportunities from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to achieve mutual goals for health system improvements. This briefing draws from and builds on this webinar to offer an overview of opportunities, explore these states’ experiences, and provide concluding observations. This brief was developed through a National Cooperative Agreement (NCA) sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC).April 2010» -
Reforming Health Care Delivery Through Payment Change And Transparency: Minnesota’s Innovations
In 2008 Minnesota passed landmark legislation containing provisions to collect and report data to achieve price and quality transparency, as well as provisions to support care redesign and payment reform. This report illustrates several key achievements and the challenges Minnesota faces in implementing these reforms. It also derives lessons from the process of passing legislation, the content and potential impact of the package, and its replicability that are useful to other states working on similar reforms as well as in national discussions on controlling costs and improving value.March 2010» -
Enhancing Clinical Information in Statewide Hospital Administrative Data: Project Summary and Lessons Learned
This report, developed by Thomson Reuters and NASHP, is based on lessons from the AHRQ-sponsored Adding Clinical Data project, which awarded Pilot or Planning contracts to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Partner organizations in Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington to explore feasible, practical solutions to adding clinical data to administrative discharge records. Adding present on admission coding and laboratory results to existing administrative datasets is seen as a practical, effective, and cost-effective method to produce more accurate and expanded quality assessments of hospitals; it will also provide the evidence base for quality improvement efforts.January 2010»
