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Providing Insights that Contribute to Better Health Policy
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Untitled Document
The Community Tracking Study (CTS)
...national in scope, focused at the local level
 ational in scope but focused on communities where care is organized and delivered,
the CTS consists of national surveys every other year of households and physicians
and visits to 12 communities. A third survey of employers was conducted in 1997.
The telephone surveys are concentrated in 60 communities and have a panel of
respondents carried over from previous rounds for tracking purposes. The third
round of site visits was completed in March 2001, and the third round of the
surveys also will be completed in 2001.
- Household Survey. Sixty-thousand individuals in 33,000 families participate
in the Household Survey, which assesses whether consumer access to the health
care system is improving or declining over time. Particular areas of inquiry
include access, satisfaction, use of services and insurance coverage. Information
about health status and sociodemographic characteristics is also collected.
An Insurance Followback Survey of the plans that household respondents are
enrolled in is conducted to enhance reliability. Mathematica Policy Research,
Inc., (MPR) conducts the Household and Followback Surveys for HSC.
- Physician Survey. Twelve thousand practicing physicians across the
country provide perspective on how health care delivery is changing. Physicians
answer questions about compensation, whether they are able to provide needed
services for patients and the effect various care management strategies have
on their practices. Gallup conducts the Physician Survey for HSC.
- Employer Survey. Twenty-two thousand public and private employers
were interviewed to understand how they are shaping the health system. These
employers, which span size and industry sector, are asked questions about
the choice of plans they offer, how much their employees contribute to the
cost of coverage, whether they participate in a purchasing alliance and whether
they provide quality information to their employees. HSC collaborated with
RAND on the Employer Survey.
- Site Visits. Researchers examine the forces affecting health care
organizations and how they are responding by interviewing 50 to 80 health
care leaders in 12 sites: Boston; Cleveland; Greenville, S.C.; Indianapolis;
Lansing, Mich; Little Rock, Ark.; Miami; Northern New Jersey; Orange County,
Calif; Phoenix; Seattle; and Syracuse, N.Y. The interviews generally cover
hospital systems, employers, benefits consultants, health plans, medical groups,
safety net providers and consumer groups.
- CTS-Related Research. Other RWJF initiatives related to the CTS include:
RAND researchers Beth McGlynn and Steve Asch’s work to analyze the quality
of care in HSC’s 12 communities; efforts by UCLA/RAND researchers, including
Kenneth Wells, Audrey Burman and Roland Sturm, to examine how public policies
and markets affect access to substance abuse and mental health services; RAND
researchers Stephen Long and Susan Marquis’ analysis of employment-based health
insurance; and research by Stephen Shortell at the University of California
at Berkeley analyzing physician organizations. National in scope, focused
at the local level The Community Tracking Study (CTS)
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