Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Nonprofit Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Statistical Methods, and Pay-For-Performance Highlighted In the Latest INQUI...(stor-ownedhospitals. Whether nonprofits ...),Health

"Free-Standing Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Hospital Surgery Volume," by John Bian and Michael A. Morrisey -- This study found that from 1993 to 2001, the addition of one ambulatory surgery center (ASC) per 100,000 population in a metropolitan area was associated with 4.3 percent fewer hospital outpatient surgeries each year; ASCs had no effect on hospital inpatient procedures.

"Estimating Regression Standard Errors with Data from the Current Population Survey's Public Use File," by Michael Davern, Arthur Jones Jr., James Lepkowski, Gestur Davison, and Lynn A. Blewett -- This analysis evaluates three methods of estimating standard errors for use with the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

"The McNerney Forum: Public Reporting and Pay-for-Performance: Safety-Net Hospital Executives' Concerns and Policy Suggestions," by L. Elizabeth Goldman, Stuart Henderson, Daniel P. Dohan, Jason A. Talavera, and R. Adams Dudley -- This article reports on interviews with California safety-net hospital (SNH) administrators, whose main concerns were that human and financial resource constraints impede the ability of SNHs to accurately measure their performance.

"The View from Here: Thoughts on Health Insurance Expansions and the Value of Coverage" -- INQUIRY's new editor, Alan Monheit, discusses the goals of improved health status and risk protection as they relate to expanding health insurance (Article available at http://www.inquiryjournalonline.org/pdfserv/i0046-9580-044-02-0133.pdf ).

Recent release of note: Alan C. Monheit to succeed Katherine Swartz as INQUIRY editor -- Alan C. Monheit has been named the new editor of the health policy journal INQUIRY, succeeding Katherine Swart
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