From Rhetoric to Reality — Community Health Workers in Post-Reform U.S. Health Care

Evolution of US Health Care Reform.

Major health policy creation or changes, including governmental and private policies affecting health care delivery are based on health care reform(s). Health care reform has been a global issue over the years and the United States has seen proposals for multiple reforms over the years. A successful, health care proposal in the United States with involvement of the federal government was the sh...

The state of US health-care reform.

Transparency during public health emergencies: from rhetoric to reality.

Effective management of public health emergencies demands open and transparent public communication. The rationale for transparency has public health, strategic and ethical dimensions. Despite this, government authorities often fail to demonstrate transparency. A key step in bridging the gap between the rhetoric and reality is to define and codify transparency to put in place practical mechanis...

Rhetoric vs. reality: employer views on consumer-driven health care.

Because of rising premiums, employers are investigating new health insurance approaches that maintain workers' broad choice of providers while raising awareness of health care costs through increased patient financial responsibility. Employers' knowledge of new health plan products, including consumer-driven health plans and tiered-provider networks, has grown considerably in recent years, acco...

Consumer Engagement in Health IT: Distinguishing Rhetoric from Reality

RATIONALE Policymakers want health information technology (health IT) to support consumer engagement to help achieve national health goals. In this paper, we review the evidence to compare the rhetoric with the reality of current practice. CURRENT REALITY AND BARRIERS Our environmental scan shows that consumer demand exists for electronic access to personal health information, but that techni...