Research Briefs

Title Date

Primary Care Workforce Shortages: Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws and Payment Policies

NIHCR Research Brief No. 13

While state scope-of practice laws don’t typically restrict what primary care services nurse practitioners (NPs) can provide to patients, the laws do affect practice opportunities for NPs and appear to influence payer policies, according to a new qualitative study by the Center for Studying Health ...

Few Americans Switch Employer Health Plans for Better Quality, Lower Costs

NIHCR Research Brief No. 12

Less than 2.5 percent of nonelderly Americans in 2010 with employer coverage—about the same proportion as in 2003—initiated a change in health plans to reduce their health insurance costs or get a better quality plan, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System ...

Employer-Sponsored Insurance and Health Reform: Doing the Math

NIHCR Research Brief No. 11

Amid concerns that health reform might hasten the ongoing decline of employer health coverage, the calculus of offering coverage will continue to make economic sense for businesses employing most workers (81%) now offered insurance, according to a new national study for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National ...

Local Public Hospitals: Changing with the Times

HSC Research Brief No. 25

In recent years, local public hospitals have stayed afloat financially without abandoning their mission to care for low-income people by expanding access to primary care, attracting privately insured patients and paying closer attention to collection of patient revenues, among other strategies, according ...

U.S. Families’ Use of Workplace Health Clinics, 2007-2010

NIHCR Research Brief No. 10

Despite heightened employer interest in workplace clinics as a cost-containment tool, only 4 percent of American families in 2010 reported visiting a workplace clinic in the previous year--the same proportion as in 2007, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change ...

High-Intensity Primary Care: Lessons for Physician and Patient Engagement

NIHCR Research Brief No. 9

If fledgling efforts to improve quality and lower costs by focusing extra primary care attention on patients with complex conditions are to succeed, ensuring physicians and patients are on board will be key, according to a new qualitative study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for ...

Limited Options to Manage Specialty Drug Spending

HSC Research Brief No. 22

Health insurers and employers have few tools to control rapidly rising spending on high-cost specialty drugs—typically high-cost biologic medications to treat complex medical conditions, according to a new qualitative study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). The study was ...

Great Recession Accelerated Long-Term Decline of Employer Health Coverage

NIHCR Research Brief No. 8

Between 2007 and 2010, the share of U.S. children and working-age adults with employer-sponsored health insurance dropped 10 percentage points from 63.6 percent to 53.5 percent, according to a national study by HSC for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Health Status and Hospital Prices Key to Regional Variation in Private Health Care Spending

NIHCR Research Brief No. 7

Differences in health status explain much of the regional variation in spending for privately insured people, but differences in provider prices—especially for hospital care—also play a key role, accordingto a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, ...

Physician Visits After Hospital Discharge: Implications for Reducing Readmissions

NIHCR Research Brief No. 6

One in three adult patients—aged 21 and older—discharged from a hospital to the community does not see a physician within 30 days of discharge, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health ...

A Long and Winding Road: Federally Qualified Health Centers, Community Variation and Prospects Under Reform

HSC Research Brief No. 21

Tracing their roots to the civil rights movement and the 1960s’ War on Poverty, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) have grown from fringe providers to mainstays of many local health care system safety nets, according to a study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change ...

Fostering Health Information Technology in Small Physician Practices: Lessons from Independent Practice Associations

NIHCR Research Brief No. 5

As policy makers try to jumpstart health information technology (HIT) in small physician practices, lessons from independent practice associations—networks of small medical practices—can offer guidance in overcoming barriers to HIT adoption and use, according to a new study by the Center ...

Health Care Certificate-of-Need (CON) Laws: Policy or Politics?

NIHCR Research Brief No. 4

Originally intended to ensure access to care, maintain or improve quality, and control capital expenditures on health care services and facilities, the certificate-of-need (CON) process has evolved into an arena where providers often battle for service-line dominance and market share, according to a ...

Coordination Between Emergency and Primary Care Physicians

NIHCR Research Brief No. 3

An examination of emergency and primary care physicians’ ability—and willingness—to communicate found that haphazard communication and poor coordination can undermine effective care, accordingto a new study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, ...

Lessons from the Field: Making Accountable Care Organizations Real

NIHCR Research Brief No. 2

An examination of provider efforts to improve patient care illustrates that changing care delivery requires substantial investments—both time and money—even among groups of providers affiliated with one another for many years, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Studying ...

Employer Wellness Initiatives Grow Rapidly, but Effectiveness Varies Widely

NIHCR Research Brief No. 1

While employer wellness programs have spread rapidly in recent years, few firms implement comprehensive programs likely to make a meaningful difference in employees’ health, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National ...
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The National Institute for Health Care Reform contracts with the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) to conduct health policy research and analyses to improve the organization, financing and delivery of health care in the United States.