Issues Research, Inc., is a Colorado-based firm founded in 2000 by Douglas McCarthy to synthesize knowledge and advance understanding of important questions facing organizations and society. We bring curiosity and keen interest in a topic to understand stakeholders' needs and interests in an issue.
Our qualitative research, evaluation, and writing services distill diverse perspectives and facts into compelling insights that make sense of complexity. Whatever the topic, our goal remains the same: to provide timely, relevant, and actionable implications to inform policy and improve practice.
The findings of our work have been used by policymakers, decisionmakers, and change agents to benchmark performance, examine best practices and innovations, and help improve our nation's health care system.
Explore the links to the left to learn more.
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Integrating health care and social services can promote better outcomes for patients with complex needs. But a lack of concrete estimates about the potential impact of social services for specific populations can make it difficult for health care organizations to partner with community-based organizations to deliver such services.
To help address this gap, the Commonwealth Fund recently published a report by Douglas McCarthy and Tanya Shah that describes how a Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator and related tools can help HCOs and CBOs develop a business case for cross-sector partnerships to address health-related social needs. Lessons gleaned from a learning collaborative and case studies of organizations involved in cross-sector partnership formation are summarized in the graphic below. READ THE REPORT
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States are increasingly looking to all-payer claims databases (APCDs) to measure and improve the value of health care. By aggregating data on services paid for by public and private health plans, APCDs offer a broader perspective on cost and quality of care than any single entity can provide. According to the APCD Council, 21 states have created or are implementing APCDs (map). In several other states, stakeholders have voluntarily created multi-payer databases.
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The Commonwealth Fund recently published a two-part report, authored by Douglas McCarthy, examining how eight states (map) established and use their APCDs to improve the affordability and quality of health care and the health of residents. State approaches varied from governmental initiatives and public-private partnerships to voluntary efforts. State officials and stakeholders can use the reports to inform the design of APCDs and to help improve existing databases.
State All-Payer Claims Databases: Tools for Improving Health Care Value
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The Midwest Health Initiative recently engaged a consulting team that included Issues Research, the National Association of Health Data Organizations, and StratCommRx to create a Health Information Blueprint for the state of Missouri. With funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health, the project synthesized insights from more than 270 Missouri constituents to develop a framework (diagram) for stakeholder engagement, use cases, governance, funding, and technical considerations for building a statewide health information infrastructure to improve health and health care for Missourians. The Blueprint may be of interest to other states as well. VIEW THE BLUEPRINT
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