Safety-net providers serving the nation's 39 million uninsured residents are vulnerable organizations even in good economic times, yet efforts to monitor their capacity have been limited. This study of the safety net in five cities found that capacity was strained for specialty services and...

Improving the ability of the long-term care system to meet the needs of an aging population is at the top of the nation’s policy agenda. This issue brief describes the demographic characteristics of vulnerable adults—those at significant risk of needing long-term care services in...

This report presents findings from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Transforming Healthcare Quality Through IT program on aspects of sustainability, partnerships, and effective teamwork in grantees’ health IT implementation. Seventy percent of grantees sustained or...

Health information technology has great potential for improving health care through Health Information Exchange (HIE), the exchange of health-related information electronically across providers, with strong privacy, confidentiality, and security protections. If safety-net providers are to keep...

Despite signs that low-income and uninsured people’s access to primary health care services has improved, serious gaps in care exist, especially for specialty physicians, mental health, and dental care according to findings from the Community Tracking Study. Key factors contributing to...

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...

The Electronic Health Record Demonstration, funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is designed to evaluate whether financial incentives can increase the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs) by primary care physician practices. This first evaluation report...

This article presents insights into the use of electronic health records (EHRs) by small physician practices participating in a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pay-for-performance demonstration. Site visits to four states revealed slow movement toward improved EHR use. Factors...