The More Things Change
The fact that presidents have been trying to get some form of universal, government supported health insurance for almost 100 years now has been well publicized. What is less known is why — with the exception of the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 — almost all of their efforts have failed to produce substantive change. It’s instructive to …
Read more >The Limits of Guidelines
Jerome Groopman published a provocative and thoughtful essay In the February 11, 2010 New York Review of Books about the way one determines “quality health care.” Groopman’s focus is on clinical guidelines and just how prescriptive they can be. He makes a fundamental distinction between guidelines that can be applied in a standardized way (e.g., how to clean a catheter to …
Read more >The Status Quo? Think Again
The last time a major effort at health care reform was tried, it died an ignoble death. Bill and Hillary Clinton were certain that they had read the political signals correctly and that health care reform was a winning issue for them. Bill Clinton framed health care as an essential economic issue after he was elected and before he became …
Read more >Crain's Detroit Business: Rich in resources, rich in spending: Medicare costs higher here than in similar markets, U.S. average
CHRT director Marianne Udow-Phillips comments on findings from the Dartmouth Atlas Project that show per-patient Medicare spending as higher in Southeast Michigan than statewide and U.S. averages.
Read more >Health Reform in Pieces: Mental health and health care reform
There is much speculation — and advice — about what to do about health reform given the change in Congress since the Massachusetts’ Senate race. Some policy makers and pundits are advising that it would be better to take small bites out of health reform — rather than trying to continue down a path focused on change to the entire …
Read more >The Ann Arbor News: Better prevention could cut back in health care costs, Ann Arbor health research group finds
Report on CHRT’s January 2010 issue brief “The Cost Burden of Disease: U.S. and Michigan.”
Read more >The Cost Burden of Disease: What Health Care Spending Can Teach Us About Improving Care
Examining the reasons people end up in the hospital could point to opportunities for improving patient care and making the health care system more effective and efficient, according to an issue brief released today by the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT). Nationally in 2007, four of the top ten diagnoses related to cardiovascular disease; in Michigan, three of the …
Read more >The Detroit News: Report shows preventive care may reduce spending
Report on CHRT’s January 2010 issue brief “The Cost Burden of Disease: U.S. and Michigan.”
Read more >What does Massachusetts say about health reform?
Well, every politician for the past 100 years has known that health care reform is the “third rail” of politics. And, if they didn’t know before Massachusetts, they know it now. So, why did health reform fail this time? Is it for the same reasons it has in the past or is there something unique about this moment or this …
Read more >Crain's Detroit Business: Study: Better disease prevention programs needed
Report on CHRT’s January 2010 issue brief “The Cost Burden of Disease: U.S. and Michigan.”
Read more >