Search

OBJECTIVE: It is widely believed that only a minority of vulnerable children and adolescents receive any mental health services. Although health care disparities associated with sociodemographic characteristics are well known, almost no information exists about another potentially important source of disparity for children: How does state of residence affect mental health service use? METHODS: Observational analysis was conducted using the 1997 and 1999 waves of the National Survey of America's Families (N = 45 247 children aged 6-17), a population survey fielded in 13 states and a smaller geographically dispersed sample. We studied 4 dependent variables: 1) use of any mental health services and number of visits among users; 2) need for mental health care, based on 6 items from the Child Behavior Checklist; 3) unmet need (no services among children with identified need); and 4) need among users of mental health services. RESULTS: Use of any mental health care differs >2-fold across states, ranging from 5% in California and Texas to >10% in Colorado and Massachusetts. The variation across states in service use and unmet need exceeds the differences across racial/ethnic groups or family income. For example, the odds ratio of unmet need in California versus Massachusetts is 3.04, compared with 2.33 between Hispanic and white children. Differences in population characteristics across states do not explain much of the observed geographic variation in mental health related outcomes for children. Perhaps the most disconcerting finding is that the differences in use are not paralleled by differences in need. Overall, there is no apparent relationship between levels of need and use of services across states. As a general rule, states with high rates of services do not have low levels of need or vice versa, although that situation exists. Alabama and Texas, for example, have higher rates of need and lower rates of use than the nation as a whole, whereas Washington state displays the opposite pattern. Even with the similar levels of need and service use, states differ in the effectiveness of their delivery system. Alabama and Mississippi have high rates of need and low levels of use, but rates of unmet need are not significantly higher in those 2 states than in the nation, whereas California, Florida, and Texas have the highest rates of unmet need. In California and Texas, children from high-income families are more likely to receive some mental health services than children from low-income families. In Alabama and Mississippi, as well as in the states with the lowest rates of unmet need (Colorado, Massachusetts, and Minnesota), the opposite is true: children from low-income families are much more likely to receive any mental health service than children from high-income families. CONCLUSIONS: Large differences from the national average across states in service use and unmet need are the rule, rather than the exception. National averages obscure large differences that can exceed the effects of race/ethnicity or income. The differences in the rates of use or unmet need are not driven by differences in the racial/ethnic or socioeconomic makeup across states but more likely are the result of differences in state policies and health care market characteristics. These state policies and health care market characteristics can interact with sociodemographic characteristics and affect how effectively resources are used. For states such as California and Texas that have the lowest rates of mental health service use, it may be less important to raise the rates of service use than to deliver them to the children with the highest need, predominantly black and Hispanic children and children in low-income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sustained delivery of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) is essential to addressing the public health impacts of youth mental health problems, but is complicated by the limited and fragmented funding available to youth mental health service agencies. Supports are needed that can guide service agencies in accessing sustainable funding for EBTs. We conducted a pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process, an Excel-based strategic planning tool that helps service agency leaders identify and coordinate financing strategies for their EBT programs., Method: Pilot testing of the Fiscal Mapping Process was completed with 10 youth mental health service agencies over a 12-month period, using trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy or parent-child interaction therapy programs. Service agency representatives received initial training and monthly coaching in using the tool. We used case study methods to synthesize all available data (surveys, focus groups, coaching notes, document review) and contrast agency experiences to identify key findings through explanation building., Results: Key evaluation findings related to the process and outcomes of using the Fiscal Mapping Process, as well as contextual influences. Process evaluation findings helped clarify the primary use case for the tool and identified the importance-and challenges-of engaging external collaborators. Outcome evaluation findings documented the impacts of the Fiscal Mapping Process on agency-reported sustainment capacities (strategic planning, funding stability), which fully explained reported improvements in outcomes (extent and likelihood)-although these impacts were incremental. Findings on contextual factors documented the influence of environmental and organizational capacities on engagement with the tool and concerns about equitable impacts, but also the view that the process could usefully generalize to other EBTs., Conclusions: Our pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process was promising. In future work, we plan to integrate the tool into EBT implementation initiatives and test its impact on long-term sustainment outcomes across various EBTs, while increasing attention to equity considerations., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on stark racial and ethnic inequities in access to care and accurate health information in the U.S. When COVID-19 vaccines became available, communities of color faced multiple barriers that contributed to low vaccine rates. To address this gap, the Equity-First Vaccination Initiative supported community organizations in five demonstration cities to plan and implement hyper-local strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine access and uptake among communities of color. Purpose: To draw learnings from the experiences of the participating organizations, we applied a framework that integrated implementation science and health equity principles. Design and sample: In this commentary, we describe how we used this framework to guide qualitative interviews with community organizations, focusing on insights across five implementation elements (reach, design, implementation, adaptation, implementation outcomes). Conclusions: Learnings from this evaluation may help guide future implementation of similarly complex initiatives involving multiple organizations and sites to advance health equity during a public health crisis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Given COVID-19's disproportionate impact on populations that identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the United States, researchers and advocates have recommended that health systems and institutions deepen their engagement with community-based organizations (CBOs) with longstanding relationships with these communities. However, even as CBOs leverage their earned trust to promote COVID-19 vaccination, health systems and institutions must also address underlying causes of health inequities more broadly. In this commentary, we discuss key lessons learned about trust from our participation in the U.S. Equity-First Vaccination Initiative, an effort funded by The Rockefeller Foundation to promote COVID-19 vaccination equity. The first lesson is that trust cannot be "surged" to meet the needs of the moment until it is no longer deemed important; rather, it must predate and outlast the crisis. Second, to generate long-term change, health systems cannot simply rely on CBOs to bridge the trust gap; instead, they must directly address the root causes of this gap among BIPOC populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Evidence-based treatments (EBTs) are critical to effectively address mental health problems among children and adolescents, but costly for mental health service agencies to implement and sustain. Financing strategies help agencies overcome cost-related barriers by obtaining financial resources to support EBT implementation and/or sustainment., Aims: We sought to (i) understand how youth mental health system decision-makers involved with EBT implementation and sustainment view key features (e.g., relevance, feasibility) that inform financing strategy selection and (ii) compare service agency, funding agency, and intermediary representative perspectives., Method: Two surveys were disseminated to 48 representatives across U.S. youth mental health service agencies, funding agencies, and intermediaries who were participating in a larger study of financing strategies. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered on 23 financing strategies through quantitative ratings and open-ended responses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and rapid content analysis., Results: The financing strategies rated as most relevant include braided funding streams, contracts for EBTs, credentialing/rostering providers, fee-for-service reimbursement (regular and increased), and grant funding. All other strategies were unfamiliar to 1/3 to 1/2 of participants. The six strategies were rated between somewhat and quite available, feasible, and effective for EBT sustainment. For sustaining different EBT components (e.g., delivery, materials), the mix of financing strategies was rated as somewhat adequate. Qualitative analysis revealed challenges with strategies being non-recurring or unavailable in representatives' regions. Ratings were largely similar across participant roles, though funding agency representatives were the most familiar with financing strategies., Discussion: Despite the breadth of innovative financing strategies, expert representatives within the youth mental health services ecosystem had limited knowledge of most options. Experts relied on strategies that were familiar but often did not adequately support EBT implementation or sustainment. These findings underscore more fundamental issues with under-resourced mental health systems in the U.S.; financing strategies can help agencies navigate EBT use but must be accompanied by larger-scale system reforms. Limitations include difficulties generalizing results due to using a small sample familiar with EBTs, high agreement as a potential function of snowball recruiting, and limited responses to the open-ended survey questions., Implications for Health Care Provision and Use: Although EBTs have been found to effectively address mental health problems in children and adolescents, available strategies for financing their implementation and sustainment in mental health systems are insufficient. This constraint prevents many children and adolescents from receiving high-quality services., Implications for Health Policies: Financing strategies alone cannot solve systematic issues that prevent youth mental health service agencies from providing EBTs. Policy changes may be required, such as increased financial investment from the U.S. government into mental health services to support basic infrastructure (e.g., facility operations, measuring outcomes)., Implications for Further Research: Future work should examine expert perspectives on EBT financing strategies in different contexts (e.g., substance use services), gathering targeted feedback on financing strategies that are less well known, and exploring topics such as strategic planning, funding stability, and collaborative decision-making as they relate to EBT implementation and sustainment.

The one-year U.S. Equity-First Vaccination Initiative (EVI), launched in April 2021, aimed to reduce racial inequities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination across five demonstration cities (Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Newark, and Oakland) and over the longer term strengthen the United States' public health system to achieve more-equitable outcomes. This initiative comprised nearly 100 community-based organizations (CBOs), who led hyper-local work to increase vaccination access and confidence in communities of individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. In this study, the second of two on the initiative, the authors examine the results of the EVI. They look at the initiative's activities, effects, and challenges, and provide recommendations for how to support and sustain this hyper-local community-led approach and strengthen the public health system in the United States., (Copyright © 2023 RAND Corporation.)

We investigated racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of March 29, 2022, uptake of the first dose was higher among Hispanic and Asian people than among White and Black people. In contrast, uptake rates of the booster were higher among Asian and White people than among Black and Hispanic people.

With new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and likely more to come, the (extraordinarily complex) logistics of deploying them have gotten underway. Public health officials across the country face a daunting task: convincing the majority of individuals to queue up for shots while also maintaining a steady supply of doses and efficient appointment sign-ups. The road ahead is still long and, even with increasing vaccination, will still require adherence with other effective public health behaviors, such as mask-wearing. This article addresses the importance of effectively matching the message, the audience, and the sender for messages to promote uptake of vaccination and of such behaviors as mask-wearing. It offers suggestions about how to leverage such factors as variations in risk perception and variation among U.S. subcultures regarding tendencies to follow rules and to act for the good of the group. The authors also review evidence that suggests health messages should engage directly with misinformation to refute it., (Copyright © 2022 RAND Corporation.)

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic required significant public health interventions from local governments. Early in the pandemic, RAND researchers developed a decision support tool to provide policymakers with insight into the trade-offs they might face when choosing among nonpharmaceutical intervention levels. Using an updated version of the model, the researchers performed a stress-test of a variety of alternative reopening plans, using California as an example. This article presents the general lessons learned from these experiments and discusses four characteristics of the best reopening strategies., (Copyright © 2022 RAND Corporation.)

Background: Sustained delivery of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) is essential to addressing the public health and economic impacts of youth mental health problems, but is complicated by the limited and fragmented funding available to youth mental health service agencies (hereafter, "service agencies"). Strategic planning tools are needed that can guide these service agencies in their coordination of sustainable funding for EBTs. This protocol describes a mixed-methods research project designed to (1) develop and (2) evaluate our novel fiscal mapping process that guides strategic planning efforts to finance the sustainment of EBTs in youth mental health services., Method: Participants will be 48 expert stakeholder participants, including representatives from ten service agencies and their partners from funding agencies (various public and private sources) and intermediary organizations (which provide guidance and support on the delivery of specific EBTs). Aim 1 is to develop the fiscal mapping process: a multi-step, structured tool that guides service agencies in selecting the optimal combination of strategies for financing their EBT sustainment efforts. We will adapt the fiscal mapping process from an established intervention mapping process and will incorporate an existing compilation of 23 financing strategies. We will then engage participants in a modified Delphi exercise to achieve consensus on the fiscal mapping process steps and gather information that can inform the selection of strategies. Aim 2 is to evaluate preliminary impacts of the fiscal mapping process on service agencies' EBT sustainment capacities (i.e., structures and processes that support sustainment) and outcomes (e.g., intentions to sustain). The ten agencies will pilot test the fiscal mapping process. We will evaluate how the fiscal mapping process impacts EBT sustainment capacities and outcomes using a comparative case study approach, incorporating data from focus groups and document review. After pilot testing, the stakeholder participants will conceptualize the process and outcomes of fiscal mapping in a participatory modeling exercise to help inform future use and evaluation of the tool., Discussion: This project will generate the fiscal mapping process, which will facilitate the coordination of an array of financing strategies to sustain EBTs in community youth mental health services. This tool will promote the sustainment of youth-focused EBTs., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objective: Emergency departments (EDs) are critical sources of care after natural disasters such as hurricanes. Understanding the impact on ED utilization by subpopulation and proximity to the hurricane's path can inform emergency preparedness planning. This study examines changes in ED utilization for residents of 344 counties after the occurrence of 7 US hurricanes between 2005 and 2016., Methods: This retrospective observational study used ED data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases and State Emergency Department Databases. ED utilization rates for weeks during and after hurricanes were compared with pre-hurricane rates, stratified by the proximity of the patient county to the hurricane path, age, and disease category., Results: The overall population rate of weekly ED visits changed little post-hurricane, but rates by disease categories and age demonstrated varying results. Utilization rates for respiratory disorders exhibited the largest post-hurricane increase, particularly 2-3 weeks following the hurricane. The change in population rates by disease categories and age tended to be larger for people residing in counties closer to the hurricane path., Conclusions: Changes in ED utilization following hurricanes depend on disease categories, age, and proximity to the hurricane path. Emergency managers could incorporate these factors into their planning processes.

Background: Implementation researchers are increasingly using economic evaluation to explore the benefits produced by implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in healthcare settings. However, the findings of typical economic evaluations (e.g., based on clinical trials) are rarely sufficient to inform decisions about how health service organizations and policymakers should finance investments in EBPs. This paper describes how economic evaluations can be translated into policy and practice through complementary research on financing strategies that support EBP implementation and sustainment., Main Body: We provide an overview of EBP implementation financing, which outlines key financing and health service delivery system stakeholders and their points of decision-making. We then illustrate how economic evaluations have informed decisions about EBP implementation and sustainment with three case examples: (1) use of Pay-for-Success financing to implement multisystemic therapy in underserved areas of Colorado, USA, based in part on the strength of evidence from economic evaluations; (2) an alternative payment model to sustain evidence-based oncology care, developed by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through simulations of economic impact; and (3) use of a recently developed fiscal mapping process to collaboratively match financing strategies and needs during a pragmatic clinical trial for a newly adapted family support intervention for opioid use disorder., Conclusions: EBP financing strategies can help overcome cost-related barriers to implementing and sustaining EBPs by translating economic evaluation results into policy and practice. We present a research agenda to advance understanding of financing strategies in five key areas raised by our case examples: (1) maximize the relevance of economic evaluations for real-world EBP implementation; (2) study ongoing changes in financing systems as part of economic evaluations; (3) identify the conditions under which a given financing strategy is most beneficial; (4) explore the use and impacts of financing strategies across pre-implementation, active implementation, and sustainment phases; and (5) advance research efforts through strong partnerships with stakeholder groups while attending to issues of power imbalance and transparency. Attention to these research areas will develop a robust body of scholarship around EBP financing strategies and, ultimately, enable greater public health impacts of EBPs.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of senior leadership in hospitals on the motivations, cost, benefits, barriers, and facilitators of investment in emergency preparedness., Study Design: This is a qualitative study which used a grounded theory approach to develop a theory of hospital emergency preparedness., Setting and Study Participants: A purposive sample of hospital leaders (n = 11) in the US state of Nebraska were interviewed., Results: Results showed that the environmental risk associated with the hospital location, the hospital's position in the community, and the preparedness requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contribute to investment decisions. Rural hospitals face unique challenges in preparing for disasters, for example, lack of trained personnel. Facilitators of disaster preparedness include the availability of federal funds, the commitment of leadership, and an organizational mission aligned toward emergency preparedness. Hospitals invest in hazard vulnerability assessments; partnerships with other organizations in the community; staff trainings and infrastructure., Conclusions: The authors concluded that hospitals in Nebraska are committed toward investing in preparedness activities. The theory of hospital emergency preparedness developed will be used in a subsequent study to develop a decision-support framework for hospital investment in preparedness.

Hospitals are an integral part of community resiliency during and after a disaster or emergency event. In addition to community-level planning through healthcare coalitions, hospitals are required to test and update emergency plans to comply with accreditation standards at their own expense. Justifying costs related to investments in emergency preparedness can be a barrier, as these events are relatively rare. Little is known about the crosscutting benefits of investments in daily operations including patient care. This study investigated whether hospital investments in emergency preparedness had a perceived impact on daily operations from a senior leadership perspective. Using a cross-sectional study design, a 39-item survey was emailed and mailed to chief executive officers of all 105 Nebraska hospitals. Most respondents indicated that drills and exercises, staff training, and updating emergency plans had a positive impact on daily operations. A relatively small proportion (≤11%) of respondents indicated that costs of buying decontamination equipment, personal protective equipment, and costs associated with staff training and drills/exercises had a negative impact on daily operations. No differences were noted between rural and urban locations or between hospitals that allocate funds in the budget versus those that do not. The majority of hospitals in our study are likely to continue to invest over the next 3 years, inferring a sincere commitment by hospital senior leadership to continue to invest in emergency preparedness. Future research using longitudinal design and objective measures of investments and daily benefits is needed to support a business case for hospital preparedness.

Motor vehicle crashes account for a large number of deaths and injuries. In the United States, in 2015, more than 35,000 people were killed and approximately 2.44 million were injured in motor vehicle crashes. In 2010, the economic costs associated with motor vehicle crashes in the United States were substantial, estimated to be $242 billion. Fortunately, a wide range of evidence-based interventions, including both policies and programs, can help prevent motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths. In 2014, RAND researchers developed an online tool, the Motor Vehicle Prioritizing Interventions and Cost Calculator for States (MV PICCS), to help determine the costs and effectiveness of various interventions to reduce injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes and what interventions together generate the largest reductions in injuries and deaths for a given implementation budget. A 2015 update added two new interventions and produced a series of reports about allocating traffic safety funds. The 2017 update, MV PICCS 3.0, determined whether to add new interventions, updated information on the interventions' effectiveness and costs, and redesigned the tool's user interface to be more user-friendly.

To provide objective analyses about the effects of prevention and treatment programs on child welfare outcomes, RAND researchers built a quantitative model that simulated how children enter and flow through the nation's child welfare system. They then used the model to project how different policy options (preventive services, family preservation treatment efforts, kinship care treatment efforts, and a policy package that combined preventive services and kinship care) would affect a child's pathway through the system, costs, and outcomes in early adulthood. This study is the first attempt to integrate maltreatment risk, detection, pathways through the system, and consequences in a comprehensive quantitative model that can be used to simulate the impact of policy changes. This research suggests that expanding both prevention and treatment is needed to achieve the desired policy objectives: Combining options that intervene at different points in the system and increasing both prevention and treatment generates stronger effects than would any single option. The simulation model identifies ways to increase both targeted prevention and treatment while achieving multiple objectives: reducing maltreatment and the number of children entering the system, improving a child's experience moving through the system, and improving outcomes in young adulthood. These objectives can all be met while also reducing total child welfare system costs. A policy package combining expanded prevention and kinship supports pays for itself: There is a net cost reduction in the range of 3 to 7 percent of total spending (or approximately $5.2 billion to $10.5 billion saved against the current baseline of $155.9 billion) for a cohort of children born over a five-year period.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 addressed the need for access to timely, high-quality health care for veterans. Section 201 of the legislation called for an independent assessment of various aspects of veterans' health care. The RAND Corporation was tasked with an assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) current and projected health care capabilities and resources. An examination of data from a variety of sources, along with a survey of VA medical facility leaders, revealed the breadth and depth of VA resources and capabilities: fiscal resources, workforce and human resources, physical infrastructure, interorganizational relationships, and information resources. The assessment identified barriers to the effective use of these resources and capabilities. Analysis of data on access to VA care and the quality of that care showed that almost all veterans live within 40 miles of a VA health facility, but fewer have access to VA specialty care. Veterans usually receive care within 14 days of their desired appointment date, but wait times vary considerably across VA facilities. VA has long played a national leadership role in measuring the quality of health care. The assessment showed that VA health care quality was as good or better on most measures compared with other health systems, but quality performance lagged at some VA facilities. VA will require more resources and capabilities to meet a projected increase in veterans' demand for VA care over the next five years. Options for increasing capacity include accelerated hiring, full nurse practice authority, and expanded use of telehealth.

A focused review of recent RAND Health research identified small ideas that could save the U.S. health care system $13 to $22 billion per year, in the aggregate, if successfully implemented. In the substituting lower-cost treatments category, ideas are to reduce use of anesthesia providers in routine gastroenterology procedures for low-risk patients, change payment policy for emergency transport, increase use of lower-cost antibiotics for treatment of acute otitis media, shift care from emergency departments to retail clinics when appropriate, eliminate co-payments for higher-risk patients taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, increase use of $4 generic drugs, and reduce Medicare Part D use of brand-name prescription drugs by patients with diabetes. In the patient safety category, ideas are to prevent three types of health care-associated infections: (1) central line-associated bloodstream infections, (2) ventilator-associated pneumonia, and (3) catheter-associated urinary tract infections; use preoperative and anesthesia checklists to prevent operative and postoperative events; prevent in-facility pressure ulcers; use ultrasound guidance for central line placement; and prevent recurrent falls. Small ideas do not require systemic change; thus, they may be both more feasible to operationalize and less likely to encounter stiff political and organizational resistance.

Objective: Although recent emergencies or disasters have underscored the vital role of nongovernmental (NGO) resources, they remain not well understood or leveraged. We intended to develop an assets framework that identifies relevant NGO resources for disaster preparedness and response that can be used to assess their availability at state and local levels., Methods: We conducted a search of peer-reviewed publications to identify existing asset frameworks, and reviewed policy documents and gray literature to identify roles of NGOs in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. A standardized data abstraction form was used to organize the results by NGO sector., Results: We organized NGO assets into 5 categories: competencies, money, infrastructure or equipment, services, relationships, and data for each of the 11 sectors designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the 2011 preparedness capabilities., Conclusions: Our findings showed that the capacity of each sector to capture data on each asset type needs strengthening so that data can be merged for just-in-time analysis to indicate where additional relief is needed.

Study Objective: Efficient management and allocation of scarce medical resources can improve outcomes for victims of mass casualty events. However, the effectiveness of specific strategies has never been systematically reviewed. We analyze published evidence on strategies to optimize the management and allocation of scarce resources across a wide range of mass casualty event contexts and study designs., Methods: Our literature search included MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Global Health, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, from 1990 through late 2011. We also searched the gray literature, using the New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report and key Web sites. We included both English- and foreign-language articles. We included studies that evaluated strategies used in actual mass casualty events or tested through drills, exercises, or computer simulations. We excluded studies that lacked a comparison group or did not report quantitative outcomes. Data extraction, quality assessment, and strength of evidence ratings were conducted by a single researcher and reviewed by a second; discrepancies were reconciled by the 2 reviewers. Because of heterogeneity in outcome measures, we qualitatively synthesized findings within categories of strategies., Results: From 5,716 potentially relevant citations, 74 studies met inclusion criteria. Strategies included reducing demand for health care services (18 studies), optimizing use of existing resources (50), augmenting existing resources (5), implementing crisis standards of care (5), and multiple categories (4). The evidence was sufficient to form conclusions on 2 strategies, although the strength of evidence was rated as low. First, as a strategy to reduce demand for health care services, points of dispensing can be used to efficiently distribute biological countermeasures after a bioterrorism attack or influenza pandemic, and their organization influences speed of distribution. Second, as a strategy to optimize use of existing resources, commonly used field triage systems do not perform consistently during actual mass casualty events. The number of high-quality studies addressing other strategies was insufficient to support conclusions about their effectiveness because of differences in study context, comparison groups, and outcome measures. Our literature search may have missed key resource management and allocation strategies because of their extreme heterogeneity. Interrater reliability was not assessed for quality assessments or strength of evidence ratings. Publication bias is likely, given the large number of studies reporting positive findings., Conclusion: The current evidence base is inadequate to inform providers and policymakers about the most effective strategies for managing or allocating scarce resources during mass casualty events. Consensus on methodological standards that encompass a range of study designs is needed to guide future research and strengthen the evidence base. Evidentiary standards should be developed to promote consensus interpretations of the evidence supporting individual strategies., (Copyright © 2013 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This systematic review sought to identify the best available evidence regarding strategies for allocating scarce resources during mass casualty events (MCEs). Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (1) What strategies are available to policymakers to optimize the allocation of scarce resources during MCEs? (2) What strategies are available to providers to optimize the allocation of scarce resources during MCEs? (3) What are the public's key perceptions and concerns regarding the implementation of strategies to allocate scarce resources during MCEs? (4) What methods are available to engage providers in discussions regarding the development and implementation of strategies to allocate scarce resources during MCEs?, Data Sources: We searched Medline, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), Global Health, Web of Science®, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from 1990 through 2011. To identify relevant non-peer-reviewed reports, we searched the New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report. We also reviewed relevant State and Federal plans, peer-reviewed reports and papers by nongovernmental organizations, and consensus statements published by professional societies. We included both English- and foreign-language studies., Review Methods: Our review included studies that evaluated tested strategies in real-world MCEs as well as strategies tested in drills, exercises, or computer simulations, all of which included a comparison group. We reviewed separately studies that lacked a comparison group but nonetheless evaluated promising strategies. We also identified consensus recommendations developed by professional societies or government panels. We reviewed existing State plans to examine the current state of planning for scarce resource allocation during MCEs. Two investigators independently reviewed each article, abstracted data, and assessed study quality., Results: We considered 5,716 reports for this comparative effectiveness review (CER); we ultimately included 170 in the review. Twenty-seven studies focus on strategies for policymakers. Among this group were studies that examined various ways to distribute biological countermeasures more efficiently during a bioterror attack or influenza pandemic. They provided modest evidence that the way these systems are organized influences the speed of distribution. The review includes 119 studies that address strategies for providers. A number of these studies provided evidence suggesting that commonly used triage systems do not perform consistently in actual MCEs. The number of high-quality studies addressing other specific strategies was insufficient to support firm conclusions about their effectiveness. Only 10 studies included strategies that consider the public's perspective. However, these studies were consistent in their findings. In particular, the public believes that resource allocation guidelines should be simple and consistent across health care facilities but should allow facilities some flexibility to make allocation decisions based on the specific demand and supply situation. The public also believes that a successful allocation system should balance the goals of ensuring the functioning of society, saving the greatest number of people, protecting the most vulnerable people, reducing deaths and hospitalizations, and treating people fairly and equitably. The remaining 14 studies provided strategies for engaging providers in discussions about allocating and managing scarce medical resources. These studies did not identify one engagement approach as clearly superior; however, they consistently noted the importance of a broad, inclusive, and systematic engagement process., Conclusions: Scientific research to identify the most effective adaptive strategies to implement during MCEs is an emerging area. While it remains unclear which of the many options available to policymakers and providers will be most effective, ongoing efforts to develop a focused, well-organized program of applied research should help to identify the optimal methods, techniques, and technologies to strengthen our nation's capacity to respond to MCEs.

Attempts to explain disparities in access to health care faced by racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations often focus on individual-level factors such as demographics, personal health beliefs, and health insurance status. This article proposes an examination of these disparities-and an effort to redress them-through the lens of public health. Public health agencies can link people to needed services such as immunizations, testing, and treatment; ensure the availability of health care; ensure the competency of the public health and personal health care workforce; and evaluate the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based services. Approaching disparities through a public health framework can provide the foundation for developing more robust evidence to inform additional policies for improving access and reducing disparities.

Experiences from recent emergencies, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, have shown that current emergency preparedness plans are inadequate to address the unique issues of special needs populations. This article shares details about a toolkit meant to assist state and local public health agencies improve their emergency preparedness activities. It distills the most relevant strategies, practices, and resources from a variety of sources, including peer-reviewed research, government reports, the trade literature, and public health leaders, to identify priority populations and critical strategies. The contents include potential strategies for addressing special needs, summaries of promising practices implemented in communities across the country, information on how to select one or more practices that will work in a specific community, information on how to determine whether a practice is working, and a Web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool to identify and enumerate those with special needs in communities across the United States. Used together, the toolkit and the GIS tool are intended to provide a comprehensive resource to enable public health planners to account for special needs populations in their emergency preparedness efforts.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains substantial new requirements aimed at increasing rates of health insurance coverage. Because many of these provisions impose additional costs on the states, officials need reliable estimates of the likely impact of the ACA in their state. To demonstrate the usefulness of modeling for state-level decisionmaking, RAND undertook a preliminary analysis of the impact of the ACA on five states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, and Texas-using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model. For Montana, the model predicts that, in 2016 (the year that all of the provisions in the ACA related to coverage expansion will be fully implemented), the uninsured rate in Montana will fall to 3 percent; without the law, it would remain at 18 percent. The model projects that total state government spending on health care will be 3 percent higher for the combined 2011-2020 period because of the ACA.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains substantial new requirements aimed at increasing rates of health insurance coverage. Because many of these provisions impose additional costs on the states, officials need reliable estimates of the likely impact of the ACA in their state. To demonstrate the usefulness of modeling for state-level decisionmaking, RAND undertook a preliminary analysis of the impact of the ACA on five states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, and Texas-using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model. For Illinois, the model predicts that, in 2016 (the year that all of the provisions in the ACA related to coverage expansion will be fully implemented), the uninsured rate in Illinois will fall to 3 percent; without the law, it would remain near 15 percent. The model projects that total state government spending on health care will be 10 percent higher for the combined 2011-2020 period because of the ACA.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains substantial new requirements aimed at increasing rates of health insurance coverage. Because many of these provisions impose additional costs on the states, officials need reliable estimates of the likely impact of the ACA in their state. To demonstrate the usefulness of modeling for state-level decisionmaking, RAND undertook a preliminary analysis of the impact of the ACA on five states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, and Texas-using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model. For California, the model predicts that, in 2016 (the year that all of the provisions in the ACA related to coverage expansion will be fully implemented), the uninsured rate in California will fall to 4 percent; without the law, it would remain at 20 percent. The model projects that total state government spending on health care will be 7 percent higher for the combined 2011-2020 period because of the ACA.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains substantial new requirements aimed at increasing rates of health insurance coverage. Because many of these provisions impose additional costs on the states, officials need reliable estimates of the likely impact of the ACA in their state. To demonstrate the usefulness of modeling for state-level decisionmaking, RAND undertook a preliminary analysis of the impact of the ACA on five states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, and Texas-using the RAND COMPARE microsimulation model. For Texas, the model predicts that, in 2016 (the year that all of the provisions in the ACA related to coverage expansion will be fully implemented), the uninsured rate in Texas will fall to 6 percent; without the law, it would remain at 28 percent, the highest in the nation. The model projects that total state government spending on health care will be 10 percent higher for the combined 2011-2020 period because of the ACA.

Objective: To estimate the relationship between quality improvement and electronic health record (EHR) adoption in US hospitals., Study Design: National cohort study based on primary survey data about hospital EHR capability collected in 2003 and 2006 and on publicly reported hospital quality data for 2004 and 2007., Methods: Difference-in-differences regression analysis to assess the relationship between EHR adoption and quality improvement for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia care., Results: Availability of a basic EHR was associated with a significant increase in quality improvement for heart failure (additional improvement, 2.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0%-4.1%). However, adoption of advanced EHR capabilities was associated with significant decreases in quality improvement for acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. We observed 0.9% (95% CI, -1.7% to -0.1%) less improvement for acute myocardial infarction quality scores and 3.0% (95% CI, -5.2% to -0.8%) less improvement for heart failure quality scores among hospitals that newly adopted an advanced EHR, and 1.2% (95% CI, -2.0% to -0.3%) less improvement for acute myocardial infarction quality scores and 2.8% (95% CI, -5.4% to -0.3%) less improvement for heart failure quality scores among hospitals that upgraded their basic EHR., Conclusions: Mixed results suggest that current practices for implementation and use of EHRs have had a limited effect on quality improvement in US hospitals. However, potential "ceiling effects" limit the ability of existing measures to assess the effect that EHRs have had on hospital quality. In addition to the development of standard criteria for EHR functionality and use, standard measures of the effect of EHRs on quality are needed.

Purpose: When using state-transition Markov models to simulate risk of recurrent events over time, incorporating dependence on higher numbers of prior episodes can increase model complexity, yet failing to capture this event history may bias model outcomes. This analysis assessed the tradeoffs between model bias and complexity when evaluating risks of recurrent events in Markov models., Methods: The authors developed a generic episode/relapse Markov cohort model, defining bias as the percentage change in events prevented with 2 hypothetical interventions (prevention and treatment) when incorporating 0 to 9 prior episodes in relapse risk versus a model with 10 such episodes. Magnitude and sign of bias were evaluated as a function of event and recovery risks, disease-specific mortality, and risk function., Results: Bias was positive in the base case for a prevention strategy, indicating that failing to fully incorporate dependence on event history overestimated the prevention's predicted impact. For treatment, the bias was negative, indicating an underestimated benefit. Bias approached zero as the number of tracked prior episodes increased, and the average bias over 10 tracked episodes was greater with the exponential compared with linear functions of relapse risk and with treatment compared with prevention strategies. With linear and exponential risk functions, absolute bias reached 33% and 78%, respectively, in prevention and 52% and 85% in treatment., Conclusion: Failing to incorporate dependence on prior event history in subsequent relapse risk in Markov models can greatly affect model outcomes, overestimating the impact of prevention and treatment strategies by up to 85% and underestimating the impact in some treatment models by up to 20%. When at least 4 prior episodes are incorporated, bias does not exceed 26% in prevention or 11% in treatment.

Background: Computer models played an important role in the health care reform debate, and they will continue to be used during implementation. However, current models are limited by inputs, including available data. Aim. We review microsimulation and cell-based models. For each type of model, we discuss data requirements and other factors that may affect its scope. We also discuss how to improve models by changing data collection and data access procedures., Materials and Methods: We review the modeling literature, documentation on existing models, and data resources available to modelers. Results. Even with limitations, models can be a useful resource. However, limitations must be clearly communicated. Modeling approaches could be improved by enhancing existing longitudinal data, improving access to linked data, and developing data focused on health care providers., Discussion: Longitudinal datasets could be improved by standardizing questions across surveys or by fielding supplemental panels. Funding could be provided to identify causal parameters and to clarify ranges of effects reported in the literature. Finally, a forum for routine communication between modelers and policy makers could be established., Conclusion: Modeling can provide useful information for health care policy makers. Thus, investing in tools to improve modeling capabilities should be a high priority., (© Health Research and Educational Trust.)

Drinking among HIV-positive individuals increases risks of disease progression and possibly sexual transmission. We examined whether state alcohol sales policies are associated with drinking and sexual risk among people living with HIV. In a multivariate analysis combining national survey and state policy data, we found that HIV-positive residents of states allowing liquor sales in drug and grocery stores had 70% to 88% greater odds of drinking, daily drinking, and binge drinking than did HIV-positive residents of other states. High-risk sexual activity was more prevalent in states permitting longer sales hours (7% greater odds for each additional hour). Restrictive alcohol sales policies may reduce drinking and transmission risk in HIV-positive individuals.

On Sunday, 26 April 2009, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in response to the outbreak of H1N1 influenza (known as swine flu) in the United States. Through an analysis of state and local health department Web sites, we determined whether departments were able to provide online information to their constituents within twenty-four hours of the declaration. The overwhelming majority of state health departments, and more than half of health departments participating in the Cities Readiness Initiative-but only a quarter of smaller, local health departments-were successful in doing so.

The present study examines the relationship between hard drug use in high school and occupational and job quality outcomes measured at approximately age 29. We use two different methods aimed at ruling out the possibility of spurious correlations between high school drug use and occupational outcomes: (1) directly controlling for pre-high school characteristics that may affect both high school drug use and later occupational characteristics (e.g., educational orientation, early drug use and deviant behavior); and (2) matching high school users with a subset of nonusers that have very similar characteristics and then estimating the difference in labor market outcomes for these two groups (i.e., propensity score matching). Overall, the results suggest that adolescent drug use is linked with poorer occupational and job quality outcomes as much as 10 years after high school. Interestingly, which job-related outcomes are affected by early hard drug use varies by gender. Females who use hard drugs as adolescents end up in lower skill, lower status jobs while males who use hard drugs as adolescents are more likely to end up in jobs with fewer benefits (e.g., health, retirement).

Objective: To examine trends in youth exposure to alcohol advertising on television across different demographic groups., Methods: We used television ratings data on alcohol advertisements to examine trends in exposure between September 1998 and February 2002. Further, we explored the differences in exposure across demographic groups by examining group-level alcohol ad exposure across specific networks, program types, and times of day., Results: We found that boys were more exposed than girls and African-Americans are more exposed than whites. Moreover, the race differential appeared to be increasing over time, whereas the gender differential appeared to increase with age. Differences in viewing patterns across race and gender contributed to the observed differences in exposure to alcohol advertising on television., Conclusions: These results provide guidance in identifying comparative vulnerabilities in exposure to alcohol advertising on television, and can aid in the development of strategies to inoculate youth against those vulnerabilities.

To determine the effect of prices and regulations on youth cigar demand, we estimated logistic regression models of the probability of current cigar smoking among students in grades 6 to 12 with data from the 1999 and 2000 waves of the National Youth Tobacco Survey. We found that youth cigar demand is sensitive to price but not state tobacco-control regulations. The results suggested that raising excise taxes on cigars could reduce cigar use prevalence among youths.

Objective: To analyze health care use and expenditures associated with varying degrees of obesity for a nationally representative sample of individuals 54 to 69 years old., Research Methods and Procedures: Data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationwide biennial longitudinal survey of Americans in their 50s, were used to estimate multivariate regression models of the effect of weight class on health care use and costs. The main outcomes were total health care expenditures, the number of outpatient visits, the probability of any inpatient stay, and the number of inpatient days., Results: The results indicated that there were large differences in obesity-related health care costs by degree of obesity. Overall, a BMI of 35 to 40 was associated with twice the increase in health care expenditures above normal weight (about a 50% increase) than a BMI of 30 to 35 (about a 25% increase); a BMI of over 40 doubled health care costs (approximately 100% higher costs above those of normal weight). There was a difference by gender in how health care use and costs changed with obesity class. The primary effect of increasing weight class on health care use appeared to be through elevated use of outpatient health care services., Discussion: Obesity imposes an increasing burden on the health care system, and that burden grows disproportionately large for the most obese segment of the U.S. population. Because the prevalence of severe obesity is increasing much faster than that of moderate obesity, average estimates of obesity effects obscure real consequences for individuals, physician practices, hospitals, and health plans.

Are older Americans becoming more or less disabled? Unhealthy body weight has increased dramatically, but other data show that disability rates have declined. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study to estimate the association between obesity and disability, and we combine these data with trend estimates of obesity rates from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. If current trends in obesity continue, disability rates will increase by 1 percent per year more in the 50-69 age group than if there were no further weight gain.

Background: The organization and financing of medical practice has experienced substantial changes during the past decade. Today the majority of individuals with private insurance are enrolled in managed care plans and traditional indemnity insurance is only predominant among Medicare enrollees. At the same time that managed care was growing in general, there was also substantial growth in the number of managed care companies specializing in behavioral health care and separating them out ("carved-out") from other medical care. While it is clear that these changes in managed care penetration and financing arrangements have affected physicians and the way they practice medicine, it is less clear whether there has been a differential effect across physician types., Method: Data are from the Community Tracking Study (CTS) physician survey, a national survey of active physicians in the United States fielded between August 1998 and November 1999. To be eligible, physicians had to have completed their medical training (which excludes residents, interns, or fellows), be practicing in the contiguous United States, and be providing direct patient care for at least 20h per week. The total number of completed interviews was 12,304, including 566 psychiatrists, 7,217 primary care physicians, and 4,521 other medical or surgical specialists. Consistent with the previous literature, our analysis is primarily descriptive presenting weighted means and odds ratios from multivariate models., Results: Psychiatrists are significantly less likely than primary care physicians or other specialists to agree with the statements that clinical decisions in the interest of their patients do not reduce income. Further, in comparison to primary care physicians, psychiatrists are less likely to agree that it is possible to maintain continuing relationships with patients over time that promote the delivery of high quality care and that they have the freedom to make clinical decisions that meet their patients' needs. In contrast to the perceived impacts on practice, psychiatrists tend to work in practices with a lower dependence on managed care than either other specialists or primary care physicians. Regarding individual physician compensation among non-owners, psychiatrists are less likely than other physicians to have their income adjusted based on individual productivity., Conclusions: Psychiatrists are more concerned that managed care has a negative impact on patient-provider relationships than other physicians; however, based on the available measures of financing and organization, psychiatrists are less dependent on managed care. This may suggest that other aspects of managed care, such as pre-authorization and gatekeeping, that disproportionately affect specialists are driving psychiatrists' perceptions of the patient-provider relationship.

Objectives: This study sought to estimate how changes in state cigarette excise taxes affect the smoking behavior of pregnant women., Methods: Detailed information about mothers and their pregnancy was used to examine the impact of taxes on the propensity of pregnant women to smoke. The 1989 to 1995 Natality Detail Files were used in conducting analyses to assess the impact of taxes on smoking among different subpopulations., Results: Higher cigarette excise taxes reduced smoking rates among pregnant women. A tax hike of $0.55 per pack would reduce maternal smoking by about 22%. Overall, a 10% increase in price would reduce smoking rates by 7%. Estimates for subpopulations suggested that nearly all would be very responsive to tax changes, including the subpopulations with the highest smoking rates., Conclusions: Smoking rates among pregnant women are responsive to tax hikes.

BACKGROUND: Mental health benefits have traditionally been much less generous than benefits for physical health care, with separate deductibles, higher copayments or coinsurance, and lower limits on covered services, a trend that continues despite a recent wave of 'parity' legislation. In spite of the current policy debates on mental health insurance reforms, little is known about the burden of mental health out-of-pocket expenditures. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This study examines differences in out-of-pocket expenditures and their burden across different populations, stratified by insurance status, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic groups. METHODS: This study uses the 1998 HealthCare for Communities household survey, the latest national survey data that are currently available, to measure the burden of out-of-pocket mental health expenditures. We use several measures of burden such as total out-of-pocket expenditures, their share of total treatment costs, and their share of family income. To address the methodological issues that arise in the calculation of the relative measures of burden (e.g. outliers, measurement error, systematic underreporting) we consider three different approaches that have been suggested in the literature and discuss their relative advantages given the type of data typically available. RESULTS: Although there is a common perception that out-of-pocket expenditures for mental health services represent a significant burden for service users, the estimates suggest that this is not the case. In fact, across the three measures of out-of-pocket expenditures as a share of income the estimates are under 10 percent for most groups. However, there is some variation in burden across groups with people who are older, uninsured, or minority spending a larger share of their income out-of-pocket. Since many insurance plans have limits on the number of visits covered and on the total amount that the insurer will pay for mental health services, the share of total mental health expenditures that are paid by individuals is another important measure of the burden faced by people with mental health service needs. We estimate that the mean out-of-pocket share of total expenditures for the group as a whole is 25 percent. In addition, we find that the burden varies across groups with older, more educated, or privately insured individuals paying a larger share of expenditures out-of-pocket. DISCUSSION: Although the overall picture regarding the burden of out-of-pocket costs relative to income is encouraging, it is also important to keep in mind that individuals make treatment decisions based on their available income. The fact that the burden of actual out-of-pocket payments is relatively low may also reflect decisions to forego potentially valuable care. Nevertheless, the results for mental health do not suggest that out-of-pocket costs are currently a major burden for most users. This situation may reflect a major change from the past given the recent shifts towards managed care, however there are no comparable data available to test this hypothesis empirically. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICY FORMULATION AND FURTHER RESEARCH: It may be tempting to attribute the low estimates of out-of-pocket expenditures as a share of income in this paper to recent parity legislation. However, recent research shows that parity legislation has not led to significant changes in benefit design. In fact the high ratio of out-of-pocket payments relative to total mental health care expenditures presented in this paper are consistent with a limited role of parity legislation. Another possible explanation for the observed results is the growth of managed care and the shift in treatment style towards greater use of medications, which are comprehensively covered in most private insurance plans, has reduced total treatment costs and consequently the size of out-of-pocket payments.

No recent national data on expenditures and utilization are available to provide a benchmark for reform of mental health systems for children and adolescents. The most recent estimates, from 1986, predate the dramatic growth of managed care. This study provides updated national estimates. Treatment expenditures are estimated to be $11.68 billion ($172 per child). Adolescents have the highest expenditures at $293 per child followed by $163 per child aged 6 to 11 and $35 per preschool-aged child. Outpatient services account for 57%, inpatient for 33%, and psychotropic medications for 9% of the total. Unlike earlier reports, outpatient care now accounts for the majority of expenditures. This finding replicates the differences between recent managed care data and earlier actuarial databases for privately insured adults and confirms the trend from inpatient toward outpatient care.