What's New with HCFO - January 11, 2008 (Print All Articles)

Preventing Disease in a Categorically Funded Public Health Care System

The American public health system is financed by a complex web of federal, state, and local resources. The contributing funding streams are mostly disease or purpose driven, with dollars specifically targeted toward prevention, treatment, and control of a specific disease or purpose (e.g. diabetes or bioterrorism preparedness). However, today’s most deadly diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, result from the same behavioral and environmental risk factors and may be targeted by similar early intervention and prevention programs. Thus, the public health system’s inflexible financing mechanisms— which are often described as ‘silos’ or ‘stove-pipes’— are sorely inefficient, leading to disconnected programs and redundant activities.

Disparate information systems and data collection tools are also a result of this ‘siloed’ funding, contributing to the implementation of disconnected public health programs and interventions. A streamlined system may enable public health practitioners to tailor spending in order to target disease trends by addressing risk factors within their local communities. In fact, in 2002, the IOM recommended that the federal government and states renew efforts to experiment with clustering or consolidation of categorical grants for the purpose of increasing local flexibility to address priority health concerns and enhance the efficient use of limited resources.1 

Program integration that resulted in the 1995 formation of the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stemmed from recognition of STDs as co-factors for HIV transmission. The resulting organizational change, and co-mingling of the corresponding funding streams, allows for the integrated delivery of similar preventive services that address all three areas.2 Today, an estimated $277 billion is spent annually on treating the most common chronic diseases, resulting in $1.1 trillion in lost productivity per year.3 Blending direct funding for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other diseases with similar risk factors may support integrated service delivery and comprehensive prevention programs.4 Federally initiated efforts to support communities in the development of comprehensive approaches include Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. and the Steps to a Healthier US Cooperative Agreement Program.

To address this inefficiency and the IOM recommendation, CDC is tasking senior management officials— portfolio managers placed in state health agencies as a pilot program of the Futures Initiative— with exploring ‘grant bundling’ in states. Initial assessments from these portfolio managers reflect widespread acknowledgement of categorical funding’s negative impact on states’ abilities to address emerging disease trends, pointing to inflexible and inadequate resources, unfunded mandates, and lack of balance between prevention and treatment.5 Grant bundling may be an effective administrative strategy for simplifying and streamlining grant application and management, and reducing the inefficiencies in reporting requirements.6

More recently, investments in preparedness may yield the most valuable lessons for streamlining public health spending. Certainly, preparedness funding is also directed, with resources targeting specific disaster type and response capacity. However, by combining public and private, as well as federal, state, and local resources, efforts are being made to design the infrastructure for public health preparedness around integrated information systems and all-hazards approaches.7 This dynamic system, while necessary to prepare for unforeseen events, may inform increased efficiency and effectiveness of the broader public health system

Conclusion

Now, in an era of exploding health care costs and rising numbers of uninsured, the public health system is pressed to become a larger safety net. Streamlining the public health system’s finance structure may leverage valuable resources, thus reducing costs and improving overall health status. In June, AcademyHealth conducted a stakeholder meeting, 2007 Building the Field: PHSR Stakeholder Meeting, to evaluate the public health system’s research base, assess its research needs, and examine an agenda for public health systems research (PHSR). At this meeting, stakeholders identified several knowledge gaps in system organization, structure, and financing. Several priorities identified for the field were related to funding silos in public health, including: What are the effects of categorical funding on resource allocation? Is there a funding algorithm that can be used to generate budgets for becoming a high performing public health system? To what extent are cost-effective public health interventions adopted and implemented within local and/or state public health systems?8

Strategies for streamlining disease prevention in a categorically funded public health system include utilizing dynamic financing mechanisms, integrating public and private resources, and implementing evidence-based public health interventions. Findings from the following selected grants from HCFO’s Special Topic Solicitation in PHSR may provide insights to policymakers working to implement these strategies and enhance the U.S. public health system’s financing structure.

Title: Informing the Design of Funding Allocation Formulas in Public Health
Grantee Institution: Emory University
Principal Investigator: James W. Buehler, M.D.
Grant Period: January 2008–December 2009
The researchers will examine formula-based allocation strategies in public health practice.  In particular, they would assess the impact on funding allocations of various formula design options, including the use of different indicators of target population need, the cost of providing services, state or local resource availability, and various approaches to combining indicators in formula calculations.  The will also study the policy implications associated with using different indicators or strategies, including measures of population health disparities and approaches to assuring equity versus equivalency in funding allocations.  The objective of this project is to generate practical guidance for public health program managers seeking to make informed choices when developing allocation formulas to best serve program goals.

Title: Assessment of Training Needs for Public Health Financial Managers
Grantee Institution: University of Kentucky
Principal Investigator: Julia Costich, Ph.D., J.D.
Grant Period: January 2007–June 2008
The researchers will examine competencies of financial managers in state and local public health departments. A national sample of public health finance officers, and the senior public health officials to whom they report, will be surveyed. The survey will gather information on their self-assessment of current knowledge and performance in relation to public health finance competencies, as well as their preference for educational formats. Using newly issued competencies in public health financial management as benchmarks, the researchers would identify areas of need, mechanisms for delivering training, and potential funding sources. The objective of this project is to identify professional development needs for financial officers in state and local public health agencies.

Title: Public Health Funding and Population Health
Grantee Institution: University of Washington
Principal Investigator: David E. Grembowski, Ph.D.
Grant Period: January, 2007–December, 2007
The researchers will examine the relationship between local health department expenditures and county-level disparities in mortality and infant mortality rates for Black and White racial/ethnic groups. They will also estimate whether changes in expenditures are associated with changes in those rates over time. The objective of this project is to inform the debate about the level of resources that should be allocated to public health systems rather than to medical care or other determinants of population health.

Title: Structural Capacities, Processes and Performance of Essential Public Health Services by Small Local Public Health Systems
Grantee Institution: University of Wisconsin
Principal Investigator: Susan Zahner, Ph.D.
Grant Period: February, 2006–January, 2009
What factors influence the performance of small local public health agencies (LPHA) in Wisconsin? The researchers will identify key factors by determining the contributions of specific structural capacities and processes in providing three public health services: 1) monitoring health status, 2) mobilizing community partnerships, and 3) developing policies and plans. The objective of the study is to gain insight into specific factors that can improve the quality of small local public health systems in order to assist policymakers and administrators with targeting resources and technical assistance.

Title: Causes and Consequences of Change in Local Public Health Spending
Grantee Institution: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Principal Investigator: Glen Mays, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Grant Period: March, 2006–August, 2007
What are the causes and consequences of changes in local public health agency spending? In particular, they will address the following questions: 1) How have local health spending levels and funding sources changed over the past decade? 2) How have disparities in spending levels changed among communities defined by population size, rural/urban location, socioeconomic and racial/ethnic composition, and structural characteristics of the public health system; 3) To what extent have economic, demographic, and policy-related factors precipitated change in local public health spending levels and funding sources over this period; and 4) To what extent are changes in local public health spending associated with changes in local population health status and disease burden. The objective of the study is to assist policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels in crafting desirable strategies for funding local public health services and to provide insight into the effects of changes in spending on population health, correcting existing gaps and disparities in the allocation of resources.

Title: Regionalization in Local Public Health Systems: Variation in Rationale, Implementation, and Impact on Public Health Preparedness
Grantee Institution: RAND
Principal Investigator: Michael Stoto, Ph.D.
Grant Period: February, 2006–April, 2007
What is the effect of regionalization of public health structures? The researchers used four comparative case studies to 1) document the variation in the rationale for creating regional public health structures, 2) understand how these structures have been organized, implemented, and governed, and 3) assess the current and likely impact of regional structures on public health preparedness and public health systems more generally. The case studies address coordination, standardization, and developing regional capacity. The objective of the study was to provide a better understanding of the regionalization of pubic health systems in order to inform the many state and local health departments currently developing regional structures.



1 Committee for the Study of the Future of Public Health, 1988. The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
2 Ward J.W. and K.A. Fenton. “CDC and Progress Toward Integration of HIV, STD, and Viral Hepatitis Prevention,” Public Health Reports, Vol. 122, Supplement 2, 2007, pp. 99-101.
3 DeVol R. et al. An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease—Charting a New Course to Save Lives and Increase Productivity and Economic Growth, The Milken Institute, October 2007.
4 For examples of creative financing mechanisms to reduce chronic disease, see Prentice B. and G. Flores. “Local Health Departments and the Challenge of Chronic Disease: Lessons Learned from California,” Preventing Chronic Disease, Vol. 4., No. 1, January 2007.
5 CDC Portfolio Assessment Prospectus Reports, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Portfolio Management Project, October 2006.
6 Rebuilding the Public Health Infrastructure: Final Report and Recommendations of the Governmental Public Health Implementation Team, CDC Futures Initiative, October 2004.
7 Katz A., A. B. Staiti and K.L. McKenzie. “Preparing for the Unknown, Responding to the Known: Communities and Public Health Preparedness,” Health Affairs, Vol. 25, No. 4, July/August 2006.
8 Prioritized research questions stemming from the meeting can be found in Advancing Public Health Systems Research: Research Priorities and Gaps at http://www.academyhealth.org/issues/phsr.htm. Advancing Public Health Systems Research: 2007 Stakeholder Meeting Summary, a review of the meeting discussion, and Advancing Public Health Systems Research: Strategies for Moving the Field Forward, an examination of strategies for advancing the field of PHSR, are also available there.

Grantee Spotlight-Julia F. Costich, J.D., Ph.D.

Julia F. Costich, J.D., Ph.D., is the Chair of the Department of Health Services Management at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, and the Director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention & Research Center. Her teaching areas include public health law and international public health. Her research interests, in addition to injury and public health systems, include health care access for low-income populations, immigrants, and children; health policy; public health law; and comparative health systems.

Dr. Costich received her B.A. from Duke University, and then went on to receive a Ph.D., an M.P.A., and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky. Before joining the University of Kentucky public health faculty in 1998, she administered academic medical programs for twelve years and practiced health care law in the public and private sectors. She was the executive director and senior health policy specialist for the Kentucky Health Purchasing Alliance between 1994 and 1998. She has also taught in the University of Kentucky Colleges of Medicine, Law, and Health Sciences. 

Currently, Dr. Costich is the principal investigator for a HCFO- sponsored study through the 2006 Special Topic Solicitation in Public Health Systems Research, with co-investigators Peggy A. Honoré, D.H.A., and F. Douglas Scutchfield, M.D. This study is examining competencies of financial managers in state and local public health departments. Public health finance officers and the senior public health officials to whom they report are being surveyed to gather information on their self-assessment of current knowledge and performance in relation to public health finance competencies, as well as their preference for educational formats. Using newly developed competencies in public health financial management as benchmarks, the researchers are identifying areas of need, mechanisms for delivering training, and potential funding sources. The objective of this project is to identify professional development needs for financial officers in state and local public health agencies.  This research “will support the development of curriculum offerings that reflect public health officials’ own priorities for training topics and delivery modes,” says Costich.

For more information on Dr. Costich and a list of selected publications, see http://www.ukcph.org/Departments/healthservicesmanagement/juliacostich.htm.

 

New PHSR Grants Announced

Title: Characteristics and Determinants of Intragovernmental Activity Within State Public Health Systems
Grantee Institution: University of Massachusetts at Amherst (School of Public Health)
Principal Investigator: William Bartosch, Ph.D.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–8/31/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will examine intragovernmental activities within Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York to determine their impact on fragmentation in the public health system. They will study the interactions of state administrative agencies in addressing three public health challenges— substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and emergency preparedness— to better understand how they facilitate or impede efficient and effective implementation of core public health functions.  In particular, they will: 1) identify the types of intragovernmental activities within state public health systems that are required by law or regulation; 2) describe the types of intragovernmental activities that occur in states that are intended to address core public health functions; 3) identify factors influencing the type of engagement and barriers to such activity; and 4) identify models of successful intergovernmental collaboration. The objective of this project is to generate lessons for states about how they can more efficiently and effectively identify and respond to public health problems with scarce resources.

Title: A Systematic Study of Nebraska’s Regional Public Health Agency Model
Grantee Institution: Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (University of Nebraska Medical Center)
Principal Investigator: Li-Wu Chen, Ph.D.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–12/31/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will evaluate Nebraska’s change from single-county health departments to multi-county or regional public health systems. The researchers posit that a regional approach could have advantages for states like Nebraska due to the state’s relatively small population base and large geographic area. They will examine the regional public health agency model based on variation and/or effectiveness of the following factors: 1) macro context, i.e., political, social, and economic environment; 2) structural capacity, i.e., human, organizational, fiscal, and informational resources; 3) processes, i.e., community partnerships, resource allocation; and 4) outcomes, i.e., practice and performance of public health services. The objective of this project is to inform federal and state policymakers about the lessons learned through Nebraska’s experience with a regional public health agency model, so that performance of public health practice can be improved. 

Title: Understanding the Resource Allocation Decisions of Public Health Officials in the U.S.
Grantee Institution: The Regents of the University of Michigan (University of Michigan Health System)
Principal Investigator: Susan Dorr Goold, M.D., M.S.H.A., M.A.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–12/31/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will examine the nature and scope of resource allocation decisions made by public health officials. They will: 1) describe the nature and scope of resource allocation decisions officials confront; 2) identify the processes officials use when they make allocation decisions; 3) assess the degree of discretion officials report in allocating resources and the factors that influence that discretion; and 4) explore whether discretion affects officials’ abilities to assure that their communities’ most important public health needs are met. The objective of this project is to better inform discussions of public health system function by shedding light on how resource allocation decisions are made and the extent to which variation exists in those processes as a result of varying levels of discretion among public health officials.

Title: Local Public Health Capacities to Address the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations
Grantee Institution: NORC
Principal Investigator: Claudia Schur, Ph.D.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–3/31/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will examine the public health needs of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Specifically, they will develop detailed community multicultural profiles describing the cultural and linguistic diversity of populations served by local health departments (LHDs).  They will then use these profiles to analyze the relationships between population characteristics and existing public health capacity and to identify and survey select communities for more in-depth information about serving these populations. They will seek answers to the following research questions: 1) How do jurisdictions with LHDs compare in terms of the composition of the population served? To what extent do communities include substantial numbers of racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants, and/or persons who speak a language other than English? 2) Does the structure and capacities of LHDs vary with respect to the multicultural profile of the populations they serve? How do LHD resources and activities correspond to local community characteristics? 3) What are the specific strategies that LHDs engage in to meet the needs of diverse populations? What types of strategies appear to be most successful? Are community partnerships used either for training purposes or for the delivery of culturally appropriate services? 4) What obstacles appear to be most difficult to overcome in serving different types of population subgroups? Which types of services are most difficult to deliver? What characteristics or combinations of characteristics of communities and LHDs create the most substantial obstacles? The objective of this project is to develop policy recommendations for implementation of promising strategies to better serve diverse populations.

Title: Developing and Applying a Descriptive Framework for Analyzing Food Safety Resources
Grantee Institution: The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
Principal Investigator: Michael Taylor, J.D.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–6/30/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will develop a descriptive framework for public health-oriented analysis of food safety resources. The researchers will use the framework to describe and analyze federal food safety expenditures comprehensively and will apply it on a pilot basis to selected states and localities. Development of the framework will necessitate addressing the following research questions: 1) How should government food safety expenditures be organized into functional categories that enable the evaluation of resource allocation from a public health perspective? 2) Can actual food safety expenditure data be translated into these public health-oriented categories in a way that is feasible and useful for policymakers? 3) How are federal food safety resources allocated across these public health-oriented categories? 4) What are the recent trends in federal food safety expenditures across the system and across these public health-oriented categories, including federal allocations to state and local agencies? 5) How does the current federal resource allocation compare with what data and expert judgment suggest about opportunities to reduce risk across the system? 6) Can the framework be feasibly and usefully applied to state and local expenditures, taking into account budget data availability and the large number of individual agencies? 7) For a pilot set of states and localities, how are current food safety resources allocated across public health-oriented categories? and 8) What budgetary practices of government agencies foster or impede understanding and analysis of food safety expenditures from a public health perspective? The objective of this project is to provide policymakers with a tool for describing and analyzing government food safety expenditures on a system-wide basis and in ways that are relevant to reducing food borne illness.

Title: Informing the Design of Funding Allocation Formulas in Public Health
Grantee Institution: Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Principal Investigator: James Buehler, M.D.
Grant Period: 1/1/08–12/31/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will examine formula-based allocation strategies in public health practice. In particular, they will assess the impact on funding allocations of various formula design options, including the use of different indicators of target population need, the cost of providing services, state or local resource availability, and various approaches to combining indicators in formula calculations. The will also study the policy implications associated with using different indicators or strategies, including measures of population health disparities and approaches to assuring equity versus equivalency in funding allocations. The objective of this project is to generate practical guidance for public health program managers seeking to make informed choices when developing allocation formulas to best serve program goals.

 

 

 

 

 

New HCFO Grants Announced

Title: Impact of Profitability on Hospital Responses to Financial Stress
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Kevin Volpp, M.D., Ph.D.
Grant Period: 12/1/07 – 11/30/09
Paragraph Summary: The researchers would examine the impact of financial pressure on hospitals on the quality of care provided. They would test whether hospitals' responses to a change in the level of reimbursement is likely to vary by DRG-specific incentives, using the Medicare BBA as an example. They would: 1) calculate the generosity of Medicare payment by diagnoses and service lines for 1995, 2000, and 2005; 2) compare the quality of care received by patients hospitalized with conditions from more vs. less profitable service lines in 1995, 2000, and 2006; 3) test the effects of changes in reimbursement on mortality for more vs. less generously reimbursed diagnoses and service lines; and 4) test the effects of changes in reimbursement on Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) for more vs. less generously reimbursed diagnoses and service lines. The researchers note that existing studies on the effects of financial stress on hospitals have examined acute myocardial infarctions, one profitable condition that may provide a misleading sense of the overall impacts on quality and cost/quality tradeoffs. The objective of this study is to provide policymakers with better ability to measure profitability and quality for hospital service lines (e.g., neurosurgery, cardiology, etc.), the level at which many important decisions about resource allocation are made.

Title: Waiting for Outpatient Care and Choice in Financing
Institution: Boston VA Research Institute, Inc.
Principal Investigator: Julia Prentice, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
Grant Period: 12/1/07 – 11/30/08
Paragraph Summary: The researchers will examine how increasingly long wait times for medical appointments have resulted in individuals exiting healthcare systems with lengthy waits and paying more to access alternative systems with shorter waits. They are exploring whether these time/cost tradeoffs affect how individuals choose among healthcare financing options. Specifically, the researchers will focus on veterans who receive care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or pay more out-of-pocket to access the Medicare program. The researchers hypothesize that: (1) long waits in local VA facilities will reduce the probability that individuals will use VA healthcare and (2) individuals with greater resources, as compared to individuals with fewer resources, will be more likely to choose more expensive Medicare plans rather than wait for care in the VA. The objective of the study is to inform policymakers, who make decisions on reimbursement rates, how time/cost tradoffs affect patients’ health care financing choices.

 

Grantees in the News

Findings from a HCFO-sponsored study by Donald H. Taylor Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor at Duke University, were announced in a November 8, 2007 press release from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization titled, “Hospice Care Saves Money for Medicare, New Study Shows.” In this study, Taylor examined whether hospice care saves Medicare money and what impact hospice care had on out-of-pocket expenses incurred by families of terminally ill Medicare patients. He notes, “Given that hospice care has been widely demonstrated to improve quality of life of patients and families…the Medicare program appears to have a rare situation whereby something that improves quality of life also appears to reduce costs.” The study findings were also featured in the November 27, 2007 New York Times article, “In Hospice Care, Longer Lives Mean Money Lost."

J. William Thomas, Ph.D., professor at the University of Southern Maine, was quoted in the November 12, 2007 American Medical News article, “Project Seeks Framework for Quality, Public Reporting,”  regarding the cost-efficiency of specialist physicians. He noted that it is challenging to develop precise cost metrics and that, “The reliability of cost-efficiency measures varies tremendously across clinical specialties.” Thomas is currently conducting HCFO-sponsored research that examines ways to develop standard methods for measuring cost efficiency of specialist physicians, which will assist decision makers in developing physicians networks, assigning tiers, and implementing improved public reporting.   

 

 

Spotlight on Grantee Publications

Anthony T. Lo Sasso, Ph.D., currently at the University of Chicago at Illinois, recently co-authored the article, “How Federal and State Policies Affected Hospital Uncompensated Care Provision in the 1990s” in the December 2007 issue of Medical Care Research and Review. This article details HCFO-sponsored research, funded while Lo Sasso worked at Northwestern University, that examines the impact of the health care safety net, specifically hospital uncompensated care, on health insurance coverage of children. 

HCFO Releases a New Findings Brief

"Measuring the Value of Public Health Systems"

Peter Jacobson, J.D., M.P.H., and Peter Neumann, Sc.D., explored measuring the value of public health systems. Results suggest that a gap exists between academic researchers and public health practitioners in measuring value. To bridge that gap, and make existing measurement techniques more accessible to public health practitioners, Jacobson and Neumann have developed a framework for measuring the value of governmental public health systems. 

New Issue Briefs!

2007 Building the Field: PHSR Stakeholder Meeting 

AcademyHealth recently released three publications resulting from the 2007 Building the Field: PHSR Stakeholder Meeting. This meeting, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by AcademyHealth, convened PHSR stakeholders to evaluate the research base to date, assess the discipline’s needs, and examine the PHSR research agenda. The resulting publications are based on papers commissioned for the meeting and meeting discussion. Advancing Public Health Systems Research: Strategies for Moving Forward, highlights the major themes and strategies considered at the meeting, while Advancing Public Health Systems Research: Research Priorities and Gaps, outlines a research agenda based on priorities and needs identified during the session. Finally, Advancing Public Health Systems Research: 2007 Stakeholder Meeting Summary, offers an overview of the authors’ presentations and the subsequent meeting discussion.

Improving Quality Health Care: The Role of Consumer Engagement

AcademyHealth recently released six issue briefs that examine the role of consumer engagement in improving the quality of health care. These briefs are based on five commissioned papers and discussion at a meeting held in February 2007. The meeting, titled “Improving Quality Health Care: The Role of Consumer Engagement,” was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and conducted by AcademyHealth. To access the issue briefs, please follow the links below.

 

Register Now for HCFO/Commonwealth Fund Cyber Seminar

Register Now for
Leading the Way? Maine's Experience in Expanding Coverage
with Lessons for Other States Cyber Seminar

February 1, 2008
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. (EST)

In 2003, Maine passed the Dirigo Health Reform Act with a goal of affordable health care coverage for all Maine citizens by 2009. While Maine was a leader in passing comprehensive reform legislation, other states have followed, and have passed similar measures or are contemplating their own proposals to provide universal coverage.

In new research jointly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) Initiative and The Commonwealth Fund’s State Innovations Program, Debra Lipson and Jim Verdier from Mathematica Policy Research Inc. have evaluated the development and progress of Maine’s efforts to date. During this Cyber Seminar, the researchers will discuss their evaluation of Maine’s efforts to expand coverage, slow the growth in health care costs and improve quality of care. Trish Riley and Karynlee Harrington from the State of Maine and Enrique Martinez-Vidal from RWJF’s State Coverage Initiatives program will discuss the findings, including potential lessons for other states. Registration will close on Monday, January 28, 2008.

Moderator:
  Rachel Nuzum, M.P.H., The Commonwealth Fund’s State Innovations program

Presenters:
  Debra J. Lipson, M.H.S.A., Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
       
  James M. Verdier, J.D., Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
      
Discussants: 
  Trish Riley, M.S., State of Maine Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance
       
  Karynlee Harrington, State of Maine Dirigo Health Agency 
       
  Enrique Martinez-Vidal, M.P.P., State Coverage Initiatives

Registration closes January 28, 2008 – register today!
  

HSR Methods Web Site Now Available!

AcademyHealth is pleased to announce the launch of www.HSRmethods.org. This new online tool provides researchers collaborating across disciplines with an easy-to-use tool for understanding health services research methods. It includes current information on key research methods and resources used in health services research, and aims to encourage dialogue about analytic methods among researchers trained in the variety of disciplines that comprise HSR. 

The HSR Methods Web site includes several modules including:

* a large glossary of terms with synonyms, related terms, figures and examples;
* recommended reading, presentations and relevant training opportunities;
* links to online resources including databases, online tutorials, and working papers;
* a guide to the HIPAA Privacy rule, including sample authorization and data use agreements;
* a training module on ethics in research; and,
* a discussion forum.

The site is designed as a launching pad for future methods offerings to improve understanding of HSR across disciplines and support ongoing development and refinement of HSR methods in general. The intent is for HSRmethods.org to be an evolving, interactive resource with new content added regularly.

Visit the site today!

Announcements

25th Annual Research Meeting
June 8–10
Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, DC

Submit to the Call for Abstracts 
Submission deadline: TUESDAY, JANUARY 15 (5:00 pm EST)
Don't miss this opportunity to present your work to more than 2,000 health services researchers, providers, and key health care decision makers. More than half of the program will consist of peer reviewed research.

Visit the ARM Web site for Updates
View the preliminary agenda and get the latest updates on the 2008 ARM.

Join us in Washington, DC
Plan now to enjoy springtime in the nation’s capital.

PHSR Interest Group Annual Meeting: Call for Papers Closes February 1

The Public Health Systems Research Interest Group will hold its Annual Meeting on June 7 in Washington, D.C., before AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting. The Call for Papers offers researchers the opportunity to disseminate their findings. (Please note: All submitted abstracts may also be submitted separately to the ARM Call for Abstracts.)

2008 LTC Colloquium Call for Commissioned Papers Now Opened!

The Commonwealth Fund and AcademyHealth are holding a competition to prepare a paper comprising an overview and synthesis of an important issue in long-term care (LTC). It will form the basis for one of the substantive sessions at the 2008 Colloquium, which will also include "real world" discussants and table discussions among colloquium participants.

The selected author will be awarded $7,500 (plus travel reimbursement) for the paper's preparation and presentation at the colloquium on June 7, 2008 in Washington, DC. Applications may be submitted from December 1, 2007 through February 1, 2008.

For more details, visit the 2008 Colloquium Call for Commissioned Papers Web site at http://www.academyhealth.org/ltc/2008/colloquium/callforpapers.htm.

Register Today for AcademyHealth’s National Health Policy Conference
February 4-5, Washington, D.C.

The National Health Policy Conference looks at health care policy from the White House to Capitol Hill and from state capitals to city halls. Don't miss your chance to be part of this important debate on the health care policy priorities for 2008.

In addition to the annual overview of the administration and congressional policy agendas, the conference agenda will feature three topic tracks:

* Ensuring Equitable Access
* Fostering Better Care with Better Value
* Managing System Stressors

How to Register:
Register online or on-site. Visit www.academyhealth.org/nhpc for more information.

Annual AcademyHealth Awards
Call for Nominations Deadline: March 3

AcademyHealth is currently accepting nominations from members for the following awards:

* Distinguished Investigator Award
* Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award
* Article-of-the-Year Award
* Dissertation Award

Complete nominations must be received at AcademyHealth by March 3. All awardees receive complimentary registration and lodging to attend the 2008 Annual Research Meeting on June 8–10 in Washington, D.C., where the awards will be presented. In addition, the Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Awardee receives a $2,500 prize from the Alice S. Hersh Memorial Fund.
For more information and instructions for submitting nominations, visit www.academyhealth.org/awards/nominations.htm.

AcademyHealth and HCFO have Moved

The AcademyHealth office opened its doors at a new location December 31, 2007. Please be sure to update your records with our new address. All phone/fax numbers and e-mail addresses remain the same.

1150 17th Street NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202.292.6700
Fax: 202.292.6800
www.academyhealth.org