Background: The term “reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH)” describes an integrated continuum of health states which is central to Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. While the burden of mortality and morbidity associated with RMNCH is well known, knowledge is still...

This paper presents the results of an impact evaluation of a performance-based financing pilot in rural areas of two regions of Tajikistan. Primary care facilities were given financial incentives conditional on general quality and the quantity provided of selected services related to...

Evidence suggests that hospital mergers can reduce costs but less is known about their effects on patient outcomes. We study how a wave of mergers that led to the shutdown of one third of all Swedish maternity wards affected the health of mothers who gave birth and their newborns. Applying a...

Health care quality measurement and reporting have grown rapidly during the past decade and now enjoy wide support. The CAHPS surveys, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality since 1995, have been a key part of the effort to generate scientifically sound measures of consumer...

Although health information technology (IT) is at the center of efforts to improve the nation’s health care system by enhancing patient safety and reducing inefficiencies, little evidence exists to link IT to quality improvements and efficiency gains. This new issue brief reports on how six...

This overview of the patient-centered medical home offers a timeline of the concept, problems it addresses, key features as described in the joint principles, and the patient-centered medical home’s position in a larger, integrated delivery system.