CHRTlines Blog

Recent Posts (View all posts »)

02/08/2010 The Status Quo? Think Again

02/01/2010 Health Reform in Pieces: Mental health and health care reform

01/25/2010 What does Massachusetts say about health reform?

Spotlight

December 4, 2009

Health Care Collaboration Saves

In this opinion piece, CHRT board member Tom Simmer, M.D., describes the success of BCBSM's collaboration with UMHS and 33 other hospitals around the state to improve surgical quality. CHRT board member Skip Campbell, M.D., is the initiative's program lead.

Read the op-ed »

December 4, 2009

Experts Expose Health Reform Gaps for Ethnic Elders

CHRT board member Carmen Green was a featured speaker at the recent Gerontological Society of America's 62nd Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

View the article and video »

CHRT Press Release
November 3, 2009

Help for Michigan's Health Care Safety Net

U-M study will help safety net providers cope with growing need

Read the press release »
Press release PDF »

Related CHRT Project:
Safety Net »

October 15, 2009

Forum on Health Care Reform: Proposals, Politics, and Prospects

CHRT director Marianne Udow-Phillips was an expert panelist in a campus wide forum on health care reform co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the School of Public Health and the FORUM on Health Policy.

Visit the event page with webcast replay »

September 15, 2009

Industry Today:

Here's to Your Health: Healthcare expert Marianne Udow-Phillips discusses the politics and policy of health reform, circa 2009

CHRT director Marianne Udow-Phillips' comments on the challenging debate over health reform in the U.S.

Read the article »

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) sponsors research and public information to promote evidence based care delivery, improve population health, and expand access to care. Housed at the University of Michigan, CHRT is a non-profit partnership between U-M and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to test the best ideas for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system.

January 25, 2010

The Cost Burden of Disease: U.S. and Michigan

Cover of CHRT Issue Brief January 2010

In The Media

AnnArbor.com 01/25/2010

Detroit News 01/25/2010

CHRT Issue Brief January 2010

Publication details »

There may be no broad consensus on the impact of recent health reform proposals on the growth of health care costs in the U.S., but few would dispute that rising health care costs are a threat to the U.S. economy, the health system, and the health and financial well-being of families and individuals in the United States. As we collectively seek ways to address the crisis of rising costs—as part of overall health reform or through regional, state, or local approaches—we must understand the factors that drive health care costs and where opportunities exist to affect those drivers.

December 14, 2009

Health Care Spending by Country, State and Payer

CHRT Issue Brief December 2009

Publication details »

Experts on all sides of the health reform debate agree that the current rate of growth in health care spending is unsustainable and ultimately damaging to the economy and the health system alike. Patients experience this stress in a more personal way, through rising out-of-pocket costs or by struggling to get the care they need. Most agree that measures to control health care costs are essential to health reform if we are to have a financially sustainable health care system. There is less agreement, however, on how to accomplish this while maintaining—not to speak of improving—quality, access, and consumer satisfaction.