Message from the Editor

For the first time ever, a wealth of data exists on the quality of health care that has been delivered to fight the leading causes of death and disability in 12 U.S. metropolitan areas. The 12 communities, which collectively represent the types of communities in which most Americans live, can now use the new information to improve the quality of care in their own optimum ways, beginning with hard evidence about the unique strengths and weaknesses in care in each locality.

As Elizabeth McGlynn notes in her cover story, the information alone cannot do the job. Even high-tech, computerized, and automated information systems are merely necessary but not sufficient. Teams of doctors, nurses, and health educators need to use the information collaboratively. Local medical groups, regional health plans, public health clinics, and large employers need to join forces to tackle common problems of care in their communities. And patients, armed with information, need to do their part as well.

With respect to doing one’s part, military analyst James Quinlivan answers the chorus of voices, both conservative and liberal, that have called for a reinstatement of the U.S. military draft for the sake of securing Iraq and Afghanistan. In an instance of truly original thinking on Iraq, Quinlivan enumerates the conditions that would justify either an American or an Iraqi draft on behalf of that country — and the conditions that would not.

In a special expanded section of RAND Review, nine legal experts mark the 25th anniversary of the RAND Institute for Civil Justice by peering into the legal future. Some of the experts argue that American justice has strayed from its founding principles. Others argue that the justice system cannot defend its founding principles until it catches up with the modern age. Still others argue that some of the recently proposed changes to “reform” the system will lead it only further astray. But all of the experts agree that the future of civil justice relies on the gathering of unbiased information — a rare and precious commodity within a system built on competing positions of bias.

—John Godges