Capitation and the Evolving Roles of Providers and Payers in New York This report describes the basics of capitation, spelling out the range of new skills and capacities required by providers to be successful at it, as well as implications …
Performance of New York's Accountable Care Organizations in Year 2 of the Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable care organizations have now been participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program long enough for year-over-year comparisons and additional analysis of factors affecting …
The Next Wave: The Impact of Two New Proposed Mergers on New York's Health Insurance Market A Big Picture snapshot report examining two new proposed mergers of large health plans, focusing on the implications for New York markets. Policy changes …
Seizing the Moment: Strengthening Children's Primary Care in New York An analysis of New York's momentous opportunity to improve the health and well-being of children through a renewed focus on early childhood development in primary care, with key considerations and …
What's Next for New York's Child Health Plus Program? This issue brief examines decisions New York faces as it considers the future of the Child Health Plus (CHP) program, the State's health insurance plan for children. Read the related press …
The Cultures of Caregiving The Cultures of Caregiving brings together physicians, nurses, social workers, and policy experts to examine the differences and conflicts (and sometimes common ground) between family caregivers and healthcare professionals. In The Cultures of Caregiving, Carol Levine …
Health Care Provider Perspectives on Discharge Planning: From Hospital to Skilled Nursing Facility Third in the “Difficult Decisions” series of reports on the many factors that go into hospital discharge planning, with a focus on the experiences of health care …
Antibiotic Stewardship for Acute Respiratory Infections: The Milstein Toolkit for Ambulatory Care Practices A practical collection of tools for organizations developing outpatient antibiotic stewardship programs. Includes data collection tools and surveys, as well as overviews of interventions implemented, lessons learned, …
Work in Progress: UHF's 2014 Annual Report New York’s health care system is on the move, with dramatic changes being made in its basic elements. The success of this transformation will in large part be determined by how we explain …
Patient-Centered Medical Homes in New York, 2017 Update An update on the most recent progress made in implementing medical homes statewide, identifying trends and providing context on relevant changes in policy, changes in accreditation process, and various obstacles to adoption …
New York’s Medicare ACOs Improve Performance in Year 5 of the Medicare Shared Savings Program The accountable care organizations participating in the fifth year of this CMS program offer relevant lessons about moving towards value-based payment systems. The associated press …
Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit for Acute and Long-Term Care Facilities Best practices from the GNYHA/UHF Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative. Despite widespread efforts to control the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), the incidence of infections attributed to MDROs among hospital patients continues to …
The Ripple Effect: National and State Estimates of the U.S. Opioid Epidemic’s Impact on Children Data map out national and state-by-state impact of opioid epidemic on children The press release can be found here. The nation's opioid epidemic placed an …
New York’s “Other” Individual Market Needs an Update A recommended series of upgrades for New York’s “off-exchange” market for individuals, including the elimination of enrollment barriers for immigrants who are not permitted to get coverage through the NY State of …
The Road Forward: Framework for a Population Health Approach to Health and Housing Partnerships A framework for developing community-wide partnerships between health care, housing, homeless services providers, and policymakers to help address New York City’s housing and homelessness crisis and …
Levers of Change: Local Focus, System-Wide Gains For a small organization, UHF has a very large mission: to improve health care for all New Yorkers. We've had notable successes through the years, by using our resources strategically and focusing on …
The Certainty of Uncertainty In the wake of the elections, health policy's future is uncertain, but some constants—like the centrality of New York to health care reform, and UHF's own role—remain. In the wake of the presidential and congressional elections, …
No Caregiver Is an Island, Though It May Seem That Way Meeting specific needs, not a one-size-fits-all approach, is what will really help the growing population of caregivers. Here is what we know: the population is aging. Older adults typically …
A Message from Tony Shih UHF's new president, Tony Shih, MD, MPH, introduces himself and looks to the future. Dear Friends, In recent months, all of us have had a front-row seat as our nation grapples with important health policy …
Our Core Values In an extraordinary time, articulating our core values is a public statement of accountability. An organization's core values are generally not an ideal topic for a public essay. Yet these are not ordinary times. Each day we …
Is Health Care Quality Improving? Asking whether health care quality is really improving may not be the right question at all. Recently, I had a spirited debate with a colleague on whether health care quality and patient safety have improved …
COVID-19 Pandemic Perspectives: Community Health Centers on the Brink At this moment of need, it is essential that our federal and state governments become aware of the looming bankruptcy of community health. United Hospital Fund has a long history of …
Payer Actions Can Help Sustain Primary Care During and After COVID-19 A commentary highlighting the pressures on small primary care practices that disproportionately serve some of New York’s poorest neighborhoods, and how payer actions can help sustain them. Disclaimer: The …
The Virus Has No Boundaries: How COVID-19 Affects People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; this commentary outlines the difficulties and needs of this vulnerable population. Disclaimer: The …
Grandparents and Traumatized Children: Where Two Epidemics Converge This commentary zooms in on a critical point of convergence between two public health crises: grandparents vulnerable to coronavirus, and the children in their care because of parental opioid use. Policymakers can …
Critical Connections: Coordinating Health and Housing Needs during COVID-19 People affected by housing instability are at a greater risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality; some community innovations can address health and housing needs in the COVID-19 era. As we approach …
A Year of Resilience: UHF's 2020 Annual Report UHF's 2020 annual report highlights our work during a tumultuous and uniquely challenging year. The 2020 annual report highlights UHF's work during a tumultuous and uniquely challenging year as we focused on …
A Critical Opportunity to Support Children and Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis As summer was ending on Long Island's North Fork, six residents died of drug overdoses. The substance involved was cocaine laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Two …
Language Access Equity: A Roadmap for Improving Care for Language-Minority Patients Disclaimer: The views presented here are of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of United Hospital Fund, its staff, or its board of directors. Growing up …
Changing with the Times Anthony Shih, MD, reflects on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned during his tenure as president of United Hospital Fund. Anthony Shih, MD, will step down as president of United Hospital Fund after five years at …
Helping Children and Parents Close the Literacy Gap When a child comes into your practice who needs more than clinical care, what can you do? That's the essential question animating the United Hospital Fund's PEDS Learning Network. More often than …
Reducing the Risk: Year 1 Report of the Polypharmacy in Nursing Homes Learning Collaborative A UHF report details promising results of a partnership with six nonprofit, New York-area skilled nursing homes that focused on safe “deprescribing”—decreasing the use of potentially …
“Medicalizing” Social Needs Is a Band-Aid and Not a Cure Twenty years ago, I left clinical practice for public health. I was tired of fighting against the outsized role that inadequate housing and a lack of access to healthy food, …