Health Care Services Capacity

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Tunisia: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Tunisia's response to the COVID pandemic has been spotty, though vaccination rates have improved and mortality rates have dropped. When the political instability is factored in, Tunisia's emergence from the pandemic may not be quick.

Emily Hoch, Mahshid Abir

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Jordan: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Lockdown restrictions that may have contributed to low COVID-19 case numbers in Jordan early in the pandemic resulted in economic stresses and increased psychological distress in the general population. RAND researchers identified challenges faced by Jordanians during the crisis and the country's innovative and equitable response to mitigate them.

Nazia Wolters, Mahshid Abir

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Qatar: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Qatar adopted a spectrum of policies and health measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and encouraged its innovation ecosystem to play a role in fighting the pandemic. The health sector has gained experience during the pandemic that might inform response to future spikes in demand for health system resources.

Hamad Al-Ibrahim, Nazia Wolters, et al.

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Addressing the Shortage of Behavioral Health Clinicians: Lessons from the Military Health System

Access to behavioral health services is one of the top challenges for the U.S. health care system, due in part to a shortage of licensed mental health providers. One potential solution to expanding the behavioral health workforce can be found in the U.S. military.

Stephanie Brooks Holliday, Kimberly A. Hepner @KimberlyHepner, et al.

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Lebanon: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

In Lebanon, COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and daily deaths continue to decline. This is an accomplishment worthy of celebration in the midst of hyperinflation, all-time high unemployment, nadir purchasing power, and a health sector on the verge of collapse.

Nasma Berri, Mahshid Abir

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Iran: Challenges and Successes in COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Iran has faced an uphill battle since the first cases of COVID-19 were found in the country. Despite limited resources, Iran has also had its share of successes and innovations in combating the virus.

Nazia Wolters, Emily Hoch, et al.

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U.S.-Russia Diplomacy, Citizen Science, America's Blood Supply: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on U.S.-Russia diplomacy in the context of the Ukraine crisis, the value of citizen science, strengthening the America's blood supply, and more.

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RAND Video Highlights of 2021

The best RAND videos from the past year brought our research to life in new ways. From the sidewalks of Pittsburgh to preschools in the Middle East, see how people around the world are using RAND research to make their communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.

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Who Gets Care When Hospitals Are Overwhelmed? Clear Policies Are Often Lacking

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge to new highs, states, health systems, and the public continue to need clarity on health care resource allocation policy. A RAND checklist provides clear and consistent criteria for structuring such difficult decisions.

Lori Frank @LoriBethFrank, Thomas W. Concannon @tconcannon

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Schools and COVID-19, Health Care Resources, Leaving Afghanistan: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on allocating scarce but lifesaving resources during a pandemic, insights from America’s educators, the lopsided telework revolution, and more.

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A Stable Blood Supply Is Critical in the COVID-19 Era

Millions of lives depend on the U.S. blood supply. But no one knows exactly how much blood is in the system at any given time, or whether it's enough to meet demand. The federal government has no way to collect that data, and hospitals don't share it with each other. What can be done to strengthen the system?

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Preparing for a COVID Surge, Reducing Police Violence, Media Literacy in Schools: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on helping hospitals prepare for a surge in COVID-19 infections, an approach to reducing police violence, teachers' concerns about students' media literacy, and more.

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COVID Could Surge Anywhere. This Tool Helps Hospitals Prepare

The number of new coronavirus cases is growing in most states. As the pandemic continues to strain U.S. health care systems, a tool developed by RAND researchers can help hospitals prepare for the worst.

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Protests and Police Reform, Facial Recognition, Gun Policies: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on protests and police reform after the killing of George Floyd, facial recognition bans, gun policies that likely reduce deaths, and more.

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Preparing for a Post-Vaccine World, Domestic Abuse, the Future of War: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on why we need a blueprint for a post-vaccine world, helping domestic abuse victims during COVID-19, the pandemic's historic economic effects, and more.

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Want to Stem the Rising Mental Health Crisis? Look Beyond the Usual Suspects for Help

As the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects spread, concerns about mental health impacts continue to grow. Many communities and policymakers are desperate to stem the tide of unaddressed mental health needs, and with the right investments in training, task-shifting models have enormous potential to bolster available, accessible mental health services.

Lynsay Ayer, Clare Stevens

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Don't Waste This Crisis: How America Can Begin Building a System of Health

COVID-19 is shining a harsh spotlight on long-recognized but under-addressed gaps in the U.S. health system. There may never have been a more pressing time to think differently, broadening from health care services to a health-producing System of Health.

Tim McDonald, Christopher Nelson, et al.

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Hospitals' Critical Care Capacity, Unemployment Insurance, Farmworkers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how hospitals can increase critical care capacity, reforming the U.S. unemployment system, supporting farmworkers, and more.

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Amidst a Pandemic, a Mental Health Crisis May Be Looming

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers' mental health could be significant and may weaken the health care system's ability to resolve the crisis and survive over the long term. Interventions to promote psychological well-being should be implemented now.

Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia @AhluwaliaPhD, Carrie M. Farmer @carriefarmer, et al.

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Implement Critical Care Surge Strategies Now to Save Lives

As COVID-19 continues to spread, hospitals are bracing for a surge of patients requiring critical care. To meet the demand, U.S. health care facilities may need to fundamentally change the way they allocate space, staff, and equipment.

Mahshid Abir, Kaitlyn Entel, et al.

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U.S. COVID-19 Cases on the Rise: Q&A with RAND Experts

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is now in all 50 states. And more and more U.S. cases and deaths are being reported. As orders to close schools and restaurants take effect across America, RAND researchers answer some questions about the crisis.

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Coronavirus, Telemedicine, and Dustbusters

Telemedicine has been with us for decades. And yet it hasn't transformed health care in the way that ATMs have transformed banking or cordless vacuums have transformed household cleaning. But the coronavirus pandemic could forever change how telemedicine is used.

Ateev Mehrotra, Lori Uscher-Pines

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COVID-19: A Stress Test for a U.S. Health Care System Already Under Stress

There are many things hospitals and health systems could be doing in the coming weeks to best prepare for the advancing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Evaluating their surge response plans will be critical.

Mahshid Abir, Christina Cutter, et al.

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Recognizing Family Caregivers as Part of the Health Care Team

Recent shifts in health care practices have left family caregivers increasingly responsible for medical tasks. Given family caregivers' central role in medical care, there are efforts underway to improve family caregiver integration into the health care team, but there are barriers to effective integration and engagement.

Esther M. Friedman, Patricia K. Tong

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More Can Be Done to Save Veterans from Suicide

A decade of research at RAND has sought to focus the national conversation about suicide in general, and veteran suicide in particular, around solutions that work. The overwhelming message: We could do more to save the lives of veterans like Daniel Somers. Here is his story.

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How Private Health Care Providers Could Better Serve Veterans

Almost a third of U.S. veterans live 40 miles or more from the nearest VA medical center, so the VA is trying to make it easier for them to use private providers closer to home. But it will take significant efforts to better prepare civilian doctors to deliver high-quality care to veterans.

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Committed to Improving Health Care Policy: Q&A with Jodi Liu

Jodi Liu, an associate policy researcher at RAND, studies how to deliver high-quality care and how to pay for it. She discusses her assessment of a single-payer health care proposal in New York State and the supply-and-demand challenges that might arise if an Alzheimer's treatment became available.

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Do Americans Expect Too Much from Health Insurance?

Americans expect affordable coverage for pre-existing conditions, access to routine services, and protection from unpredictable and significant financial risk from accidents or illness. As a product designed primarily for risk protection, insurance may not be the most efficient or affordable approach to achieving all of these objectives.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Katherine Grace Carman

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Did We Improve Veterans Health Care? It's Unclear

The Veterans Choice program was designed to expedite veterans' access to health care and relieve pressure on the VA system. Before making the program permanent, the VA should better understand its effectiveness.

Carrie M. Farmer @carriefarmer, Susan D. Hosek

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100 Stories, 10 Years, 1 Transformation: A Recent History of NIHR's Impacts on the Health Research Landscape

The National Institute for Health Research is now ten years old. What benefits has it had on the health research landscape in the UK since its formation?

Adam Kamenetzky, Jonathan Grant, et al.

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Meeting the Caregivers Challenge

Ill or injured military personnel and veterans and people with dementia are unique populations, but they give us a preview of the enormous long-term care challenges Americans will face in the decades to come.

Emily K. Chen, Jeffrey Wasserman

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Quick Takes: The Convenience Revolution in the Treatment of Minor Health Problems

Convenient options for treating minor health problems are an important new feature of the health care landscape. Ateev Mehrotra discusses these options and their implications for the medical marketplace.

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Medicaid Access for the Formerly Incarcerated Under the ACA: Helping the Oft-Forgotten

America's prison population tends to be sicker than the general population. While Medicaid eligibility under the ACA offers an historic opportunity, enrolling the formerly incarcerated into the health exchanges or Medicaid will be neither simple nor straightforward.

Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis

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NHS 24/7: An Effective Way to Improve Quality of Care?

There are proposals to have England's National Health Service offer non-emergency service on weekends. Since there is a strong association between the health and well-being of staff and the quality of patient care, 24/7 working could have unintended consequences for patients.

Christian Van Stolk

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Lois Davis's Prisoner Re-Entry Work Earns Recognition from California Assembly

RAND congratulates senior policy researcher Lois Davis, whose work on the public health consequences of prisoner re-entry in California earned RAND the 64th Assembly District's AB 109 Re-Entry Award.

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Caring for the Uninsured: What Role Do Emergency Rooms Play?

Absent from the discussion about health care during the first debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney was any mention of one of the main providers of care for America's uninsured: emergency rooms. What does research tell us about the use of ERs and the relevant implications on health care access and cost?

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The Coming Afghanistan Surge—and the Severely Wounded

As America starts its ninth year at war, more than 32,000 U.S. service members have already been wounded in action in Iraq and about 3,500 in Afghanistan. Will U.S. resolve to strengthen care for wounded Americans be maintained, asks Ralph Masi.

Ralph Masi

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Co-Ops: A Very Tall Order

Cooperatives are a very tall order: a new type of organization, never before tested on a large scale, meant to fix the apparently intractable problems of high and rising costs, barriers to access and poor quality care. Proponents can point to the impressive example of Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, writes Elizabeth McGlynn.

Elizabeth A. McGlynn