Perspectives
by Laura DeStefano | Sep 21, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
The United States has the most technologically advanced health care system in the world. Although we spend far more on health care than any other country in the world, we perform poorly on many health measures, such as life expectancy and infant mortality, compared...
by Laura DeStefano | Sep 14, 2012 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Introduction Electronic health records (EHRs) and other forms of health information technology (IT) hold the promise of transforming the way health care is delivered in the United States, improving quality and safety while lowering costs. But after a decade of...
by Laura DeStefano | Sep 13, 2012 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Equity was identified as one of the six core dimensions of a high-performing, high-quality health care system in the landmark Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001). The report concluded that health care should be “equitable, (that is)...
by Laura DeStefano | Sep 7, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
Pursuit of value-based health care is now the aim of health policy in the United States. But caution is needed to avoid affirming Winston Churchill’s perspective that “you can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.” The...
by Laura DeStefano | Aug 24, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
When the family of Michelle Malizzo Ballog found out that their daughter’s 2008 death had been caused by a preventable medical error, one question trumped all others: How could this have happened? To the family’s surprise and relief, officials at the University of...
by Laura DeStefano | Aug 10, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
As politicians face the disturbing consequences of high health care costs on federal, state, and local budgets, the need to act will likely drive unwise decisions. Typical responses to severe cost pressures, as we have seen in state legislatures and the Congress, are...
by Laura DeStefano | Jul 27, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
American health care faces challenges in access, cost, and quality and in marked geographic and socioeconomic variability. While these challenges will require actions by federal and state governments, they also call for action by individual health systems. Actions by...
by Laura DeStefano | Jul 26, 2012 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Health care costs have doubled as a share of the economy over the past three decades (Martin et al., 2012), causing stress on family, employer, and government budgets. Furthermore, these expenses contain substantial waste and often do not improve patient health. One...
by Laura DeStefano | Jul 13, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
The policy drivers behind meaningful use are improving quality, enhancing safety, and increasing efficiency in our health care system. In my view, health care in the United States lacks “systemness”—instead relying on disconnected hospitals, clinician offices, labs,...
by Laura DeStefano | Jun 29, 2012 | Commentary, Perspectives
During the first decade of this century, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) played a major role in laying out a vision and strategic direction for change at all levels of the health system, including patients engaged as partners in their health and health care;...
