Survey/Study

“Care in the ICU: Teaming Up to Improve Quality”
(in .pdf format)
Edited by Pat Schoeni, September, 2002

This is the fourth in a series of reports under the “Accelerating Change Today (A.C.T.)– for America’s Health” Initiative sponsored by the Coalition and the Institute for Health Care Improvement. This report presents the stories of individuals and institutions that made a commitment to change and innovation to improve care in Intensive Care Units. The profiles reflect some of the most promising and pioneering efforts underway in this field.

A webcast of the report release forum, “Improving Quality of Care in Intensive Care Units Through Best Practices” is available at kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation.“Curing the System: Stories of Change in Chronic Illness Care”
(in .pdf format)
Edited by Pat Schoeni, May, 2002

This is the third in a series of reports under the “Accelerating Change Today (A.C.T.)– for America’s Health” Initiative sponsored by the Coalition and the Institute for Health Care Improvement. This report presents the stories of individuals, institutions, and organizations that made a commitment to improve chronic illness care. The profiles reflect some of the most promising pioneering efforts underway in this field.“A Perfect Storm: The Confluence of Forces Affecting Health Care Coverage” November 15, 2001
(in .pdf format)
By Joel Miller, Director of Policy, National Coalition on Health Care, November, 2001

The confluence of powerful economic forces, fueled by the terrorist attacks of September 11, have unleashed a “perfect storm” that could increase dramatically the number of uninsured people in the U.S. — with as many as 6 million people in total losing their coverage in 2001 and 2002. Specifically, two forces have converged to cause this perfect storm which threatens over the long term the health coverage security of workers and their families. First, a dominant force that has been building over the last three years is rapidly rising health insurance premiums, which could lead to an additional 6 million people going without health insurance in the two-year period 2001-2002 because of the high costs of maintaining health care coverage. As startling as that number is, the accelerated rise in unemployment powered by the economic downturn and the impact of the September 11 attacks could significantly exacerbate the problem. While nearly 39 million people were uninsured for the entire year in 2000, we estimate that approximately 45 million people will have no health insurance coverage by the end of 2002, unless the government takes substantial actions to stem the incoming tidal wave of the uninsured. Further, during the three-year period 2001-2003, we estimate that a total of 86 million Americans could suffer a gap in their health insurance coverage.“Promises to Keep: Changing the Way We Provide Care at the End of Life” October 12, 2000
(in .pdf format)
Edited by Pat Scheoni, October 2000

This is the second in a series of reports under the “Accelerating Change Today (A.C.T.)– for America’s Health” Initiative sponsored by the Coalition and the Institute for Health Care Improvement. The report presents nine institutions and organizations that exemplify quality in dealing with end-of-life. Many of these institutions provide services to patients through pain management and hospice care. Some provide support groups for children who have lost their parents or siblings. The practices that these profiled institutions have put in place can be used by other institutions as models to ensure quality of care at the end-of-life.

See what Glen Hicks at AHA News had to say about this report at AHA News“DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: The Soaring Cost of Private Health Insurance and its Impact on Consumers and Employers” – May 5, 2000
(in .pdf format)
By Joel Miller, Director of Policy, National Coalition on Health Care, May 2000.

While overall health insurance premium increases of from 9-12% are expected in 2000, many small employers are experiencing 15-20% increases. When premiums rise, employers are often forced to shift more costs to employees or to cut or eliminate health benefits. Such actions, in turn, result in many workers becoming uninsured because they can not afford the additional cost of their employers’ insurance or individual insurance. If a 12% increase in premiums occurs in 2000, the report estimates that an additional 750,000 people could lose their health insurance. Using the lowest projected increase of 9%, an additional 600,000 could be added to the more than 1 million who are already becoming uninsured each year.
“Reducing Medical Errors and Improving Patient Safety: Success Stories from the Front Lines of Medicine” – February 22, 2000 (in .pdf format)
Edited By Steven Findlay, National Coalition on Health Care, February 2000.

This monograph is the first in as series of reports under the Accelerating Change Today (A.C.T.) for America’s Health Initiative sponsored by the Coalition and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The report presents case studies of institutions and health care organizations that have developed important innovations in medical error reduction and patient safety. The organizations profiled have created models that have reduced some types of medical errors by 80 to 90 percent in just a few years, and yielded many important lessons such as:

• Leadership is essential
• “No fault” environment works
• Caregivers want to deliver safe care
• Safety must become part of what a hospital prides itself on
• Safety pays
• Reducing medical errors requires the efforts of all health care stakeholders, including those who pay for care.

The report, through the use of case studies, identifies common programs and tools that hospitals and other health care facilities can readily adopt such as automated drug order entry systems and patient safety simulation programs.