This Issue Brief discusses the evolution of the health care delivery and financing systems and its effects on health care cost management and describes the changes in the health care delivery system as they pertain to managed care. It presents empirical evidence on the effectiveness of managed care and concludes with an analysis of the potential of future health care reform to influence the evo...

BACKGROUND Family carers, as a "shadow workforce", are foundational to the day-to-day integration of health service delivery for older family members living with complex health needs. This paper utilises Haggerty's model of continuity of care to explore the contribution of family carers' to the provision of care and support for an older family member's chronic condition within the context of he...

The accountable care organization (ACO) has emerged as the centerpiece of postreform initiatives to improve the delivery of quality, cost-efficient care. As the primary partners in delivering ACOs, payers and providers have begun to collaborate on the opportunities presented by the legislation. For employers, however, this new approach to managed health care delivery models will present challen...

Arthritis affects an estimated 54 million U.S. adults and, as a common comorbidity, can contribute arthritis-specific limitations or barriers to physical activity or exercise for persons with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity (1). The American College of Rheumatology's osteoarthritis management guidelines recommend exercise as a first-line, nonpharmacologic strategy to manage arthritis sympt...

BACKGROUND Hypertension is a highly prevalent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that can be modified through timely and long-term treatment in primary care. OBJECTIVE We explored perspectives of primary care staff and health insurance managers on enablers and barriers for implementing high-quality hypertension care, in the context of a community-based health ...

The COPD Foundation Guide to COPD Diagnosis and Treatment is designed to provide practical advice for the health care provider. Available as a hard copy, online and as a mobile device application (app), the Guide serves as an accessible tool for clinicians. To date, over 400,000 cards have been distributed to health care providers nationwide at no charge. The Guide is updated as necessary and s...

Asthma is a common, chronic illness with substantial morbidity, especially for racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. The care of the patient with asthma is complex and depends ideally on excellent communication between patients and health-care providers. Communication is essential for the patient to communicate the severity of his or her illness, as well as for the health-care prov...

PROJECT DESCRIPTION HealthAware is a Web-based information resource designed for consumers to provide health, wellness, and health care content. Unlike many consumer health sites, HealthAware seeks to “close the loop” when the need for care arises. This is achieved by providing locally developed content as well as more generic materials, interactive risk-assessment tools yielding recommendation...

Transgender people face numerous barriers when utilizing health care in the United States. The current study sought to highlight transgender consumer perspectives in order to present theoretically informed, concrete recommendations for increasing transgender health care utilization. The search yielded several prominent themes associated with barriers to health care for transgender people: 1) pr...