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, CTS Site Visits or the Health Tracking Household and Physician Surveys.

Title	Date	Document Info
Tough Trade-offs: Medical Bills, Family Finances and Access to Care	June 2004	Issue Brief No. 85
A Primer on Understanding Health Care Cost Trends:	December 1996	Issue Brief No. 05
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
An Update on Americans' Access to Prescription Drugs	May 2005	Issue Brief No. 95
An Update on Medicare Beneficiary Access to Physician Services	February 2005	Issue Brief No. 93
An Update on the Community Tracking Study:	February 1999	Issue Brief No. 18
Are Defined Contributions a New Direction for Employer-Sponsored Coverage?	October 2000	Issue Brief No. 32
At the Brink:	December 2000	Issue Brief No. 33
Back To The Future? New Cost and Access Challenges Emerge	February 2001	Issue Brief No. 35
Balancing Margin and Mission: Hospitals Alter Billing and Collection Practices for Uninsured Patients	October 2005	Issue Brief No. 99
Behind the Slow Growth of Employer-Based Consumer-Driven Health Plans	December 2006	Issue Brief No. 107
Benefit Design Innovations: Implications for Consumer-Directed Health Care	February 2007	Issue Brief No. 109
Can Money Buy Quality? Physician Response to Pay for Performance	December 2005	Issue Brief No. 102
CHIPing Away at the Problem of Uninsured Children	August 1998	Issue Brief No. 14
Clinical Information Technology Gaps Persist Among Physicians	November 2006	Issue Brief No. 106
Communities Play Key Role in Extending Public Health Insurance to Children	October 2001	Issue Brief No. 44
Community Efforts to Expand Dental Services for Low-Income People	July 2008	Issue Brief No. 122
Community Health Centers Tackle Rising Demands and Expectations	December 2007	Issue Brief No. 116
Consumer Tolerance for Inaccuracy in Physician Performance Ratings: One Size Fits None	March 2007	Issue Brief No. 110
Consumer-Directed Health Plans: Mixed Employer Signals, Complex Market Dynamics	March 2008	Issue Brief No. 119
Consumers Face Higher Costs As Health Plans Seek to Control Drug Spending	November 2001	Issue Brief No. 45
Cutting Back But Not Cutting Out	October 2002	Issue Brief No. 56
Defined Contributions: The Search for a New Vision	April 2001	Issue Brief No. 37
Designing Effective Health Care Quality Transparency Initiatives	July 2009	Issue Brief No. 126
Despite Regulatory Changes, Hospitals Cautious in Helping Physicians Purchase Electronic Medical Records	September 2008	Issue Brief No. 123
Disease Management: A Leap of Faith to Lower-Cost,Higher-Quality Health Care	October 2003	Issue Brief No. 69
Distorted Payment System Undermines Business Case for Health Quality and Efficiency Gains	July 2007	Issue Brief No. 112
Do HMOs Make a Difference?	March 2000	Issue Brief No. 28
Do Specialty Hospitals Promote Price Competition?	January 2006	Issue Brief No. 103
Electronic Medical Records and Communication with Patients and Other Clinicians: Are We Talking Less?	April 2010	Issue Brief No. 131
Emergency Department Diversions: Hospital and Community Strategies Alleviate the Crisis	March 2004	Issue Brief No. 78
Emergency Room Diversions: A Symptom of Hospitals Under Stress	May 2001	Issue Brief No. 38
Employer Health Insurance Premium Subsidies Unlikely to Enhance Coverage Significantly	December 2001	Issue Brief No. 46
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Down but Not Out	October 2011	Issue Brief No. 137
Employers Shift Rising Health Care Costs to Workers: No Long-term Solution in Sight	May 2004	Issue Brief No. 83
Even When Physicians Adopt E-Prescribing, Use of Advanced Features Lags	July 2010	Issue Brief No. 133
Expectations Outpace Reality: Physicians' Use of Care Management Tools for Patients with Chronic Conditions	December 2009	Issue Brief No. 129
Federal Aid Strengthens Health Care Safety Net: The Strong Get Stronger	April 2004	Issue Brief No. 80
For-Profit Conversions and Merger Trends Among Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Plans	January 2004	Issue Brief No. 76