About The Milbank Quarterly

The politics of public health requires a closer look at the role played by county commissioners, mayors, and other local elected officials. We need a political strategy to persuade these officials that their constituents will benefit from a better public health system. More

Erosion of electoral democracy is a threat to population health. This study adds to growing evidence that electoral democracy and population health are inextricably linked. More

In this review paper, authors explore the crucial contribution of human values to complex interaction and change. In the form of “simple rules,” we offer some preliminary recommendations for a more contemporary and values-informed approach to complexity in health care. We invite a new generation of research to extend the existing evidence base. More

Rural places affected by rural hospital closures have greater travel burdens for acute care. Across the rural South, racial/ethnic inequities in spatial access to acute care are most pronounced when travel times to the second nearest open acute care hospital are accounted for. More

Context: Trust is a fundamental aspect of any human relationship, and medical care is no exception. An ongoing, trusting relationship between… More

Context: Despite growing interest in identifying patients’ social needs, little is known about hospitals’ provision of services to address them.… More

Context: Suboptimal diet is a substantial contributor to weight gain, cardiometabolic diseases, and certain cancers. Junk food taxes can raise the… More

Context: Long-standing racial inequities in health and well-being are shaped by racialized public policies that perpetuate disadvantage among Black,… More

Context: Who pays for health care—and who owns it—determine what care is delivered, who receives it, and who profits from it. We examined trends… More

Context: Since the beginning of COVID-19 and the rise of social justice movements sparked by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the… More

Context: Countries have adopted various formal and informal approaches to support older adults, which are broadly reflected in different policies,… More

State and local governments have been adopting taxes that earmark (i.e., dedicate) revenue for mental health. However, this emergent financing model has not been systematically assessed. We sought to identify all jurisdictions in the United States with policies earmarking taxes for mental health services and characterize attributes of these taxes More

To expand the number of effective strategies to address social determinants of health (SDOH), a practical framework for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers is needed to help conceptualize and target the key mechanisms of SDOH influence. More

Monitoring population health is one of the 10 essential services of public health. Accurate information on current and emerging threats to the public’s health forms the basis for high-quality research, practice, and policy. For this reason, critical appraisal of the measures and data systems tracking the nation’s health is a persistent necessity. More

Context: There is a growing trend of combinations among hospital systems that operate in different geographic markets known as cross-market mergers.… More

Context: Literature suggests that public reporting of quality may have the unintended consequence of exacerbating disparities in access to… More