RAND advances understanding of health and health behaviors and examines how the organization and financing of care affect costs, quality, and access. RAND's body of research—conducted primarily through the RAND Health division—includes innovative studies of health insurance, health care reform, health information technology, and women's health, as well as topical concerns such as obesity, complementary and alternative medicine, and PTSD in veterans and survivors of catastrophe.
As we look for ways to provide efficient, high-quality, and cost-effective health care to more Americans, we can't afford to ignore women's health issues, including reproductive health care and the cost savings that contraceptive access provides, writes Chloe Bird.
Don't forget—an American's odds of living a long and healthy life still depend more on his zip code than his genetic code. That won't change until we make healthcare more affordable, writes Dr. Arthur Kellermann.
Workplaces across the world that rely on a teenage workforce, like supermarkets and fast food restaurants, need to do a better job protecting young people from starting to smoke, writes Rajeev Ramchand.
Seven years after Hurricane Katrina, it's clear that New Orleans and other cities along the Gulf Coast are applying what they learned then in preparation for Hurricane Isaac, write Gary Cecchine and Jordan R. Fischbach.
People who do shift work should be vigilant about their risk factors. At the same time, their employers—and the government—can do more to offer education and targeted screening programs to prevent or forestall disease, writes Christian van Stolk.
As the nation struggles to confront the twin challenges of rising healthcare costs and uncertain quality, we should be willing to embrace innovative practices wherever they exist, whether they are developed in private, for-profit health care systems or so-called "socialized" ones, like Britain's NHS or America's VA, writes Art Kellermann.
A problem with using surveys to predict behavior is that they measure employer sentiment toward the ACA today, rather than the economic decisions employers typically make when the time comes, writes Art Kellermann.
We will be more successful at stemming the growing tide of obesity and improving our own health if everyone accepts their share of responsibility for the obesity epidemic, write Chloe E. Bird and Tamara Dubowitz.
Someone who uses cocaine every other day or more often is probably cocaine dependent; someone who uses marijuana every other day or more often is probably not cannabis dependent. In this regard, marijuana resembles alcohol more than it does the "hard" drugs.
Mentorship at various levels could help overcome barriers to joining the access loop of international health research publishing, while also fostering greater communication and stimulating innovative, collaborative international research, writes Janice S. Pedersen.
The bottom line is this: With or without the Affordable Care Act, the nation can no longer kick the can down the road on costs, writes Arthur Kellermann.
Given the recent spate of highly publicized disasters, why don't more Americans pay attention to the advice of public health officials? The messages they are getting are largely based on unverified assumptions, not hard evidence. Equally concerning, these assumptions may inadvertently hinder preparedness.
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act is unquestionably historic, but there is a critical aspect of health care reform that still needs to be fixed. The nation needs to take decisive action to address the rising costs of health care, writes Arthur Kellermann.
Improving HIV prevention and medical care delivery to persons living with HIV/AIDS should be a collaborative effort, particularly in the Gulf States region, where resources are limited but the epidemic is expanding, writes Vivian Towe.
The $15 co-pay a mother is expected to cover represents half of a full week's food costs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "thrifty" food plan for her 6-year-old, write Art Kellermann and Robin Weinick.
Innovative approaches are needed to break the current stalemate of information sharing and to build a solid and reliable evidence base on the state of cyber-security, writes Neil Robinson.
The numbers of suicides among military personnel is a reminder for us involved in prevention to remain vigilant and work even harder. Let it be a wake-up call to the nation to assume some of the responsibility as well, writes Rajeev Ramchand.
Although health care organizations have favorable characteristics that can maximize IT's benefits, the reengineering of health care delivery is only beginning, write Spencer Jones, Paul Heaton, Robert Rudin, and Eric Schneider.
Before we allow others to implement policies attempting to optimize the use of physician time or reduce the amount of equivocal or inappropriate care, we need to understand what physicians think about these issues and what they are prepared to do about them, writes Robert H. Brook.
Regulations requiring the restaurant industry to serve standardized portion sizes should be mandated and enforced by the same authorities responsible for checking hygienic conditions in food outlets, writes Deborah Cohen.
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