Health IT

Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi - A woman is reflected in the heart monitor she is hooked up to in the emergency room at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston, Texas.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
Health care innovation, done right, creates opportunities for consumers to control their own health records, rate physicians and hospitals, learn from other patients and focus on positive health outcomes. On November 5, Brookings hosted a policy forum to discuss the ways in which digital technology can empower patients and enhance the quality of the American health care system.
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Health Care, Health IT, Technology
SPOTLIGHT: Health Care

Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi - Customer paying bill in Boston
Henry J. Aaron and Isabel V. Sawhill, October 13, 2009
Although health care reform is intended to bend the curve of spending and reduce the deficit, it alone will not be enough, say Henry Aaron and Isabel Sawhill. They propose that Congress enact a value-added tax, the equivalent of a broad-based sales tax on all goods and services. The revenue from the new tax, and other sources, should be linked directly to public health care spending through a newly created trust fund which would pay for all federal health care spending.
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Health Care, Taxes, U.S. Economy
SPOTLIGHT: Health Care

Slobo Mitic - A stethoscope and money
Joseph Antos, John Bertko, Michael Chernew, David Cutler, Dana Goldman, Mark B. McClellan, Elizabeth McGlynn, Mark Pauly, Leonard Schaeffer and Stephen Shortell, September 01, 2009
Reducing the growth of health care spending must be a top priority for health care reform. With this goal in mind, a group of leading health policy experts, including Engelberg Center Director Mark McClellan, has released a set of concrete, feasible steps that show promise for both slowing spending growth and improving quality and value in health care.
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Health Care, Health IT, Medicare, Public Health
SPOTLIGHT: Health Care
William A. Galston, Steven Kull and Clay Ramsay, October 08, 2009
To dig deeper into what the American public really thinks about health care, experts at Brookings and WorldPublicOpinion.org gathered and interpreted polling research about public attitudes toward reform of the country’s health care system. Their results offer a new and complex portrait of how Americans view health care reform and the policy debate surrounding the polarizing issue.
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Health Care, Polling and Public Opinion, Public Health, U.S. Politics