RAND Health Marks 40 Years of Research and Analysis

We are marking our 40th anniversary throughout 2009 by highlighting 40 studies that reflect the breadth and scope of our work and have made the greatest contribution to shaping health care policy, advancing research, and improving health around the world.

Projects featured during June:

Quality of care for kids

Quality of care for children is worse than care for adults.

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Health information technology

What is the promise of health information technology?

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Neighborhoods and obesity

How neighborhood features can reduce obesity.

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RAND Health: analyzing the core issues in health care reform

For forty years, RAND analysts have been providing objective research on many of the topics now at the heart of the health reform debate.

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Only half of very low birth-weight babies are getting help for which they are eligible

The Early Intervention program is intended to help extremely-low-birth-weight children with developmental delay or disability regardless of parental income, but in South Carolina, only half of eligible children are enrolled.

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More maternal health research

What to do after a disaster

A study of 13 natural disasters in 11 countries provides some insights for U.S. disaster management.

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More public health research

Mental health history and gender disparities in insomnia

Gender disparities in insomnia symptoms may be driven by higher prevalence of affective disorders among women.

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More mental health research

Less-fatigued residents: safer and more costly?

Implementing IOM recommendations for reducing residents' workloads could increase patient safety but net costs to teaching hospitals would be high.

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More quality of care research

Improving outcomes for dual enrollees in the veterans health administration and indian health service

Some American Indian and Alaskan native veterans obtain health care services from both the VA and the Indian Health Service. This study of dual users concluded that strategies to improve outcomes for this population should target those receiving care in both systems and include information sharing or coordination of clinical care to reduce the potential for duplication and for treatment conflicts.

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Physicians report partial benefit from electronic prescribing

Physicians who used E-prescribing users reported enhanced patient safety but did not see expected improvements from using standardized medication history or formulary and benefit information.

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More health information technology research

Using dual-risk populations for studying HIV transmission

A cooperative research program involving American and Russian researchers examining the role of drug use in the sexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) used a dual high-risk group sampling approach that included both drug users and men who have sex with both men and women and explored the pros and cons of this approach.

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More research on HIV, STDs, and sexual behavior

Integrating treatment for substance abuse and mental health disorders

Clients, counselors, and administrators view a cognitive behavioral treatment for co-occurring disorders as useful and acceptable.

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More substance abuse research

Science provides a starting place for health care reform

Several key studies suggest how physicians can change the health care system in ways that reflect both the needs of individual patients and population-based health outcomes.

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Visit RAND Health COMPARE Initiative

The Science of Health Care Reform

Commentary by Dr. Robert H. Brook, Journal of the American Medical Association.

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More Health Reform research from RAND COMPARE

Improve Health, Not the Health Care System

Commentary by Dr. Dana P. Goldman, New York Times

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