Issue Briefs

ssue Briefs are designed to provide readers with relatively short, analytical research results that are policy relevant. Issue Briefs include the broader context for the research and lay out the range of related policy implications. The publications offer original HSC research results, summarize and make more accessible HSC research results that appear in peer-reviewed journals or report HSC conference proceedings. Most of the Issue Briefs are based on data from the CTS household, physician and employer surveys, Site Visits or the Health Tracking Household and Physician Surveys.

Title	Date	Document Info
Even When Physicians Adopt E-Prescribing, Use of Advanced Features Lags	July 2010	Issue Brief No. 133
Innovations in Preventing and Managing Chronic Conditions: What's Working in the Real World?	June 2010	Issue Brief No. 132
Electronic Medical Records and Communication with Patients and Other Clinicians: Are We Talking Less?	April 2010	Issue Brief No. 131
Modest and Uneven: Physician Efforts to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities	February 2010	Issue Brief No. 130
Expectations Outpace Reality: Physicians' Use of Care Management Tools for Patients with Chronic Conditions	December 2009	Issue Brief No. 129
Impact of Health Care Price Transparency on Price Variation: The New Hampshire Experience	November 2009	Issue Brief No. 128
Hospital Strategies to Engage Physicians in Quality Improvement	October 2009	Issue Brief No. 127
Designing Effective Health Care Quality Transparency Initiatives	July 2009	Issue Brief No. 126
Rising Rates of Chronic Health Conditions: What Can Be Done?	November 2008	Issue Brief No. 125
Massachusetts Health Reform: High Costs and Expanding Expectations May Weaken Employer Support	October 2008	Issue Brief No. 124
Despite Regulatory Changes, Hospitals Cautious in Helping Physicians Purchase Electronic Medical Records	September 2008	Issue Brief No. 123
Community Efforts to Expand Dental Services for Low-Income People	July 2008	Issue Brief No. 122
Health and Wellness: The Shift from Managing Illness to Promoting Health	June 2008	Issue Brief No. 121
Safety Net Hospital Emergency Departments: Creating Safety Valves for Non-Urgent Care	May 2008	Issue Brief No. 120
Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Mixed Employer Signals, Complex Market Dynamics	March 2008	Issue Brief No. 119
Health Plans Target Advanced Imaging Services	February 2008	Issue Brief No. 118
Relief, Restoration and Reform: Economic Upturn Yields Modest and Uneven Health Returns	January 2008	Issue Brief No. 117
Community Health Centers Tackle Rising Demands and Expectations	December 2007	Issue Brief No. 116
Hospital Emergency On-Call Coverage: Is There a Doctor in the House?	November 2007	Issue Brief No. 115
Health Care Cost and Access Challenges Persist	October 2007	Issue Brief No. 114
Massachusetts Health Reform: Employers, Lower-Wage Workers and Universal Coverage	July 2007	Issue Brief No. 113
Distorted Payment System Undermines Business Case for Health Quality and Efficiency Gains	July 2007	Issue Brief No. 112
High-Performance Health Plan Networks: Early Experiences	May 2007	Issue Brief No. 111
Consumer Tolerance for Inaccuracy in Physician Performance Ratings: One Size Fits None	March 2007	Issue Brief No. 110
Benefit Design Innovations: Implications for Consumer-Directed Health Care	February 2007	Issue Brief No. 109
Physician Financial Incentives: Use of Quality Incentives Inches Up, but Productivity Still Dominates	January 2007	Issue Brief No. 108
Behind the Slow Growth of Employer-Based Consumer-Driven Health Plans	December 2006	Issue Brief No. 107
Clinical Information Technology Gaps Persist Among Physicians	November 2006	Issue Brief No. 106
The Community Safety Net and Prescription Drug Access for Low-Income, Uninsured People	April 2006	Issue Brief No. 105
Stretching the Safety Net to Serve Undocumented Immigrants: Community Responses to Health Needs	February 2006	Issue Brief No. 104
Do Specialty Hospitals Promote Price Competition?	January 2006	Issue Brief No. 103
Can Money Buy Quality? Physician Response to Pay for Performance	December 2005	Issue Brief No. 102
Rising Pressure: Hospital Emergency Departments as Barometers of the Health Care System	Nov. 18, 2005	Issue Brief No. 101
Perception, Reality and Health Insurance: Uninsured as Likely as Insured to Perceive Need for Care but Half as Likely to Get Care	October 2005	Issue Brief No. 100
Balancing Margin and Mission: Hospitals Alter Billing and Collection Practices for Uninsured Patients	October 2005	Issue Brief No. 99
Public Coverage Provides Vital Safety Net for Children with Special Health Care Needs	September 2005	Issue Brief No. 98
Initial Findings from HSC's 2005 Site Visits: Stage Set for Growing Health Care Cost and Access Problems	August 2005	Issue Brief No. 97
Medicare Seniors Much Less Willing to Limit Physician-Hospital Choice for Lower Costs	June 2005	Issue Brief No. 96
An Update on Americans' Access to Prescription Drugs	May 2005	Issue Brief No. 95
More Americans Willing to Limit Physician-Hospital Choice for Lower Medical Costs	March 2005	Issue Brief No. 94
An Update on Medicare Beneficiary Access to Physician Services	February 2005	Issue Brief No. 93
Physician Incomes in Rural and Urban America	January 2005	Issue Brief No. 92
Tracking Health Care Costs: Spending Growth Slowdown Stalls in First Half of 2004	December 2004	Issue Brief No. 91
Most Uninsured People Unaware of Health Care Safety Net Providers	November 2004	Issue Brief No. 90
Limited Information Technology for Patient Care in Physician Offices	September 2004	Issue Brief No. 89
Rising Health Costs, Medical Debt and Chronic Conditions	September 2004	Issue Brief No. 88
Wall Street Comes to Washington	August 2004	Issue Brief No. 87
Rhetoric vs. Reality: Employer Views on Consumer-Driven Health Care	July 2004	Issue Brief No. 86
Tough Trade-offs: Medical Bills, Family Finances and Access to Care	June 2004	Issue Brief No. 85
Health Care Access For Low-Income People: Significant Safety Net Gaps Remain	June 2004	Issue Brief No. 84
Employers Shift Rising Health Care Costs to Workers: No Long-term Solution in Sight	May 2004	Issue Brief No. 83
Paying for Quality: Health Plans Try Carrots Instead of Sticks	May 2004	Issue Brief No. 82
Preferred Provider Organizations and Medicare: Is There an Advantage?	April 2004	Issue Brief No. 81
Federal Aid Strengthens Health Care Safety Net: The Strong Get Stronger	April 2004	Issue Brief No. 80
Managed Care Redux: Health Plans Shift Responsibilities to Consumers	March 2004	Issue Brief No. 79
Emergency Department Diversions: Hospital and Community Strategies Alleviate the Crisis	March 2004	Issue Brief No. 78
Leapfrog Patient-Safety Standards are a Stretch for Most Hospitals	February 2004	Issue Brief No. 77
Patient Cost-Sharing Innovations: Promises and Pitfalls	January 2004	Issue Brief No. 75
For-Profit Conversions and Merger Trends Among Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Plans	January 2004	Issue Brief No. 76
Getting Along or Going Along? Health Plan-Provider Contract Showdowns Subside	January 2004	Issue Brief No. 74
Prescription Drug Access Disparities Among Working-Age Americans	December 2003	Issue Brief No. 73
Patient Cost Sharing: How Much is Too Much?	December 2003	Issue Brief No. 72
Tiered-Provider Networks: Patients Face Cost-Choice Trade-Offs	November 2003	Issue Brief No. 71
Insured Americans Drive Surge in Emergency Department Visits	October 2003	Issue Brief No. 70
Disease Management: A Leap of Faith to Lower-Cost,Higher-Quality Health Care	October 2003	Issue Brief No. 69
Medical Malpractice Liability Crisis Meets Markets: Stress in Unexpected Places	September 2003	Issue Brief No. 68
Wall Street Comes to Washington	August 2003	Issue Brief No. 67
The Health Care Safety Net: Money Matters but Savvy Leadership Counts	August 2003	Issue Brief No. 66
Has Bioterrorism Preparedness Improved Public Health?	July 2003	Issue Brief No. 65
Unequal Access: African-American Medicare Beneficiaries and the Prescription Drug Gap	July 2003	Issue Brief No. 64
Health Care Cost and Access Problems Intensify	May 2003	Issue Brief No. 63
Specialty Hospitals: Focused Factories or Cream Skimmers?	April 2003	Issue Brief No. 62
Seeking Health Care Information: Most Consumers Still on the Sidelines	March 2003	Issue Brief No. 61
Physicians and Care Management: More Acceptance than You Think	January 2003	Issue Brief No. 60
SCHIP, Medicaid Expansions Lead to Shifts in Children's Coverage	December 2002	Issue Brief No. 59
The Individual Health Insurance Market	December 2002	Issue Brief No. 58
Cutting Back But Not Cutting Out	October 2002	Issue Brief No. 56
The Role of Health Insurance Brokers	October 2002	Issue Brief No. 57
Growing Physician Access Problems Complicate Medicare Payment Debate	September 2002	Issue Brief No. 55
Wall Street Comes to Washington	July 2002	Issue Brief No. 54
Tax Credits and the Affordability of Individual Health Insurance	July 2002	Issue Brief No. 53
Reversal of Fortune: Medicare+Choice Collides with Market Forces	May 2002	Issue Brief No. 52
Prescription Drug Access: Not Just a Medicare Problem	April 2002	Issue Brief No. 51
Options for Expanding Health Insurance for People with Chronic Conditions	February 2002	Issue Brief No. 50
Triple Jeopardy: Low Income, Chronically Ill and Uninsured in America	February 2002	Issue Brief No. 49
Physicians More Likely to Face Quality Incentives than Incentives That May Restrain Care	January 2002	Issue Brief No. 48
Premium Subsidies for Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage	December 2001	Issue Brief No. 47
Employer Health Insurance Premium Subsidies Unlikely to Enhance Coverage Significantly	December 2001	Issue Brief No. 46
Consumers Face Higher Costs As Health Plans Seek to Control Drug Spending	November 2001	Issue Brief No. 45
Communities Play Key Role in Extending Public Health Insurance to Children	October 2001	Issue Brief No. 44
Wall Street Comes to Washington:	September 2001	Issue Brief No. 43
Physicians Pulling Back from Charity Care	August 2001	Issue Brief No. 42
Stand-Alone Health Insurance Tax Credits Aren't Enough	July 2001	Issue Brief No. 41
Health Plan-Provider Showdowns on the Rise	June 2001	Issue Brief No. 40
Provider Network Instability: Implications for Choice, Costs and Continuity of Care	June 2001	Issue Brief No. 39
Emergency Room Diversions: A Symptom of Hospitals Under Stress	May 2001	Issue Brief No. 38
Defined Contributions: The Search for a New Vision	April 2001	Issue Brief No. 37
Tax Credits and Purchasing Pools: Will This Marriage Work?	April 2001	Issue Brief No. 36
Back To The Future? New Cost and Access Challenges Emerge	February 2001	Issue Brief No. 35
Race, Ethnicity and Preventive Services:	January 2001	Issue Brief No. 34
At the Brink:	December 2000	Issue Brief No. 33
Are Defined Contributions a New Direction for Employer-Sponsored Coverage?	October 2000	Issue Brief No. 32
Wall Street Comes to Washington:	September 2000	Issue Brief No. 31
Health Care Perceptions and Experiences	September 2000	Issue Brief No. 30
Recent Trends in Children's Health Insurance	April 2000	Issue Brief No. 29
Do HMOs Make a Difference?	March 2000	Issue Brief No. 28
Who Has a Choice of Health Plans?	February 2000	Issue Brief No. 27
Insolvency and Challenges of Regulating Providers that Bear Risk	February 2000	Issue Brief No. 26
Local Innovations Provide Managed Care for the Uninsured	January 2000	Issue Brief No. 25
The Scope of Care Expected of Primary Care Physicians:	December 1999	Issue Brief No. 24
Tracking Health Care Costs:	November 1999	Issue Brief No. 23
Who Declines Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Is Uninsured?	October 1999	Issue Brief No. 22
Wall Street Comes to Washington:	September 1999	Issue Brief No. 21
How Physician Organizations Are Responding to Managed Care	May 1999	Issue Brief No. 20
Managed Care Cost Pressures Threaten Access for the Uninsured	March 1999	Issue Brief No. 19
An Update on the Community Tracking Study:	February 1999	Issue Brief No. 18
Wall Street Comes to Washington:	December 1998	Issue Brief No. 17
Public Health Departments Adapt to Medicaid Managed Care	November 1998	Issue Brief No. 16
The Uninsured Getting Care:	September 1998	Issue Brief No. 15
CHIPing Away at the Problem of Uninsured Children	August 1998	Issue Brief No. 14
Managed Care Woes:	May 1998	Issue Brief No. 13
Next Steps in Incremental Health Insurance Expansions:	April 1998	Issue Brief No. 12
Will Hospital Report Cards Make the Grade?	July 1997	Issue Brief No. 11
Health Care Costs:	June 1997	Issue Brief No. 10
Patients, Profits and Health System Change:	May 1997	Issue Brief No. 09
Access to Health Care:	April 1997	Issue Brief No. 08
An Inadequate Supply of Qualified People Will Slow the Pace of Health System Change	March 1997	Issue Brief No. 07
Tracking Health Care Costs:	January 1997	Issue Brief No. 06
A Primer on Understanding Health Care Cost Trends:	December 1996	Issue Brief No. 05
Policy Implications of Risk Selection in Medicare HMOs:	November 1996	Issue Brief No. 04
Medicaid Eligibility Policy and the Crowding-Out Effect:	October 1996	Issue Brief No. 03
Tracking Changes in the Public Health System:	September 1996	Issue Brief No. 02
The Community Tracking Study:	August 1996	Issue Brief No. 01