Quality

Despite a heightened focus on patient safety in recent years, this CHCF California Health Care Almanac report finds that although incremental gains have been made, California is still grappling with quality improvement.

By improving patient flow, community clinics can facilitate better patient access as well as higher provider and patient satisfaction. A project to help over 40 California clinic teams achieve better patient flow is evaluated in this issue brief.

This Health Affairs article by Carman et al. finds consumers hold crucial misconceptions about evidence-based health care and most believe that more care means better care.

This Health Affairs article by Weeks et al. describes a two-year study of 741,448 patients that found that large multispecialty medical groups offer better quality and bigger savings than small group practices.

Researchers conducted site visits of six large California communities to study local health care systems and to gain insights into regional characteristics in health care affordability, access, and quality. These four issue briefs profile each market and identify common themes and emerging issues that influence how Californians receive their health care.

This free service offers unbiased quality ratings of California's long term care providers — information that will help consumers make better choices and focus providers on improving quality. The site features a geographic search tool and a tool that helps consumers choose among care options by posing ten simple questions.

Stanford University health policy researcher Lawrence C. Baker discussed research that attempts to bring together disparate findings on health care variation and identify regions that appear to be outliers across multiple health care delivery segments in the state, and to further understand how variation patterns are similar or different when looking at different types of care and different payers across hospital referral regions.

An online ad campaign aimed at helping pregnant women choose a maternity provider dramatically boosted visits to CalHospitalCompare.org. This issue brief describes the campaign strategy, results, and lessons learned.

This paper examines state Medicaid and SCHIP pay-for-performance programs, assess the feasibility of such a program in California, and explores options for applying pay-for-performance within Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.

Sacramento residents have higher income, education, and private insurance coverage levels, and enjoy better overall health, than average for California. This regional market report provides a snapshot of the unique characteristics of the organization and delivery of health care in Sacramento.

With the differences in the way medical care is delivered from one region to the next central in the national health reform debate, CHCF looks at the impact and questions posed by variation research, and areas ripe for further exploration.

Residents of San Diego have higher incomes but similar rates of insurance compared to other Californians. This regional market report provides a snapshot of the unique characteristics of the organization and delivery of health care in San Diego.

While the Bay Area's economy is stronger than in other areas of California, the cost of living and the cost of medical care are high. This regional market report provides a snapshot of the unique characteristics of the organization and delivery of health care in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fresno's residents have lower income, education, and health insurance levels, and worse health status than average for California. This regional market report provides a snapshot of the unique characteristics of the organization and delivery of health care in Fresno.

Riverside/San Bernardino encompasses a vast geographic area, which creates significant health care access challenges for residents. This regional market report provides a snapshot of the unique characteristics of the organization and delivery of health care in Riverside/San Bernardino.