RAND: Mark William Friedberg 2012-05-18T22:35:44Z Copyright (c) 2012, The RAND Corporation RAND Corporation http://www.rand.org/about/people/f/friedberg_mark_william.html Variation in Drug Prices at Pharmacies http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20090410.html 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Determine whether retail prices for prescription drugs are higher in poorer areas. Associations Between Physician Characteristics and Quality of Care http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20100121.html 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Patients are encouraged to select physicians on the basis of characteristics such as education, board certification, and malpractice history. But such characteristics are poor proxies for performance on clinical quality measures. A Five-Point Checklist to Help Performance Reports Incentivize Improvement and Effectively Guide Patients http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120051.html 2012-03-01T12:00:00Z 2012-03-01T12:00:00Z This paper presents a five-point checklist to guide those who want to improve their performance reporting methods. The goal is to minimize the frequency and severity of misclassifying providers and avoid adverse unintended consequences of reporting. The Potential Impact of the Medical Home on Job Satisfaction in Primary Care http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20120006.html 2012-01-01T12:00:00Z 2012-01-01T12:00:00Z This is a commentary for an issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine presenting results from a survey of providers and staff participating in the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative. The commentary highlights the potential and challenges of medical homes. Methodological Considerations in Generating Provider Performance Scores for Use in Public Reporting http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201100198.html 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z This white paper prepared for the Agency on Healthcare Research and Quality examines methodological issues raised by the generation of public-reporting of scores for measuring health care provider performance. Physician Groups' Use of Data from Patient Experience Surveys http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201000122.html 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z The authors examine whether and how physician groups are using patient experience data to improve patient care. Primary Care http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20100031.html 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z Despite contentious debate over the new national health care reform law, there is an emerging consensus that strengthening primary care will improve health outcomes and restrain the growth of health care spending. Electronic Health Records are Associated with Higher Quality in Primary Care Practices http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9484.html 2009-10-27T11:20:00Z 2009-10-27T11:20:00Z Demonstrating a link between use of electronic health records in community-based primary care practices and higher-quality care, this study encourages prioritization of such technologies and their advanced functionalities. Associations Between Structural Capabilities of Primary Care Practices and Performance on Selected Quality Measures http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20091012.html 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Cross-sectional analysis used to measure associations between structural capabilities of primary care practices and performance on commonly used quality measures. Paying for Performance in Primary Care http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20100028.html 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z Performance-based payments are increasingly common in primary care. With persistent disparities in the quality of care that different populations receive, however, such payments may steer new resources away from the care of racial and ethnic minorities and people of low socioeconomic status. We simulated performance-based payments to Massachusetts practices serving higher and lower shares of patients from these vulnerable communities in Massachusetts. Typical practices serving higher shares of vulnerable populations would receive less per practice compared to others, by estimated amounts of more than $7,000. Medical Home Capabilities of Primary Care Practices That Serve Sociodemographically Vulnerable Neighborhoods http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP20100043.html 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Primary care practices in sociodemographically vulnerable neighborhoods were more likely than other practices to have medical home capabilities (e.g., interpreters, multilingual physicians), making them potentially eligible for enhanced payments Today's 'Meaningful Use' Standard for Medication Orders by Hospitals May Save Few Lives; Later Stages May Do More http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP201100190.html 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z Current federal standards for hospital "meaningful use" of health information technology--which requires electronic medication orders for 30 percent of eligible patients--are probably too low to reduce deaths from heart failure and heart attack among hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries.