Using Evidence to Improve Population Health
An endowed operating foundation that works to improve the health of populations by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience
What’s New
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Fund Publishes Report on Standardizing the Measurement of Commercial Health Plan Primary Care Spending
Primary care is often acknowledged as the foundation of any high-performing health care delivery system. But how much of our health dollars go to supporting it? To address this question, the authors of this report—Michael Bailit, Mark Friedberg, and Margaret Houy—present a methodology to define and estimate spending on primary care, relative to other medical expenses. The study design … Read more
Blog: The View from Here
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Total Health Care Spending by State: Wide Variations in Amounts and Trends
The game of hot potato ends one of two ways—someone drops the potato as it is being tossed or it finally cools off. But what happens if the potato stays hot? How long can you get everybody to keep playing catch? How do you get it to cool off? We are playing hot potato with health care costs in the United States—shifting them to whomever we can. Some new analyses on health care spending … Read more
A multidisciplinary journal of population health and health policy
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Featured Article
Timing and Characteristics of Cumulative Evidence Available on Novel Therapeutic Agents Receiving Food and Drug Administration Accelerated Approval
What is the clinical evidence on therapeutic agents that treat serious conditions and are eligible for Food and Drug Administration accelerated approval? This study is the first to provide a systematic evaluation of the evidence on drugs receiving this type of approval between 2000 and 2013. These drugs often quickly become part of standard treatment, despite shortcomings in their evidence base. Read more
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Consumer Perspectives on Access to Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Role of Demographic Factors and the Testing Experience
In mid-April, 23andMe received FDA approval to sell tests for 10 genetic conditions. As the New York Times reported in May, the tests are now creating problems for insurers who have no way of knowing the results. Researchers found that the majority of consumers supported expanded access to genetic testing services and oppose additional regulation, while those who had a negative experience were less supportive of expanded availability without a medical professional. Read more