The RWJF's biannual update on the latest developments in U.S. health care To Improve Health and Health Care is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's biannual anthology, focusing on the pressing health and health care issues facing the country. This volume covers some of the most important topics in public health, preventative medicine, and health services. Readers will find an in-depth look into the programs funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, providing policy makers, practitioners, and interested members of the public a valuable perspective to inform strategy for the coming years. As part of the Foundation's efforts to inform the public, this ongoing anthology of the RWJF provides an update on the latest developments and advances taking place in the field of health, bringing readers up to speed on where we are, and where we still need to go. Understand the new developments in reducing childhood obesity Examine innovations in health care delivery Learn how RWJF programs are making a difference to patients and providers Since 1972, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health. To further its mission of improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation strives to foster innovation, develop ideas, disseminate information, and enable committed people to devote their energies to improving the nation's well-being. To Improve Health and Health Care describes the latest outcomes and progress, for a complete overview of the American health care system.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two programs that provide benefits based on disability: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This report analyzes health care utilizations as they relate to impairment severity and SSA's definition of disability. Health Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination identifies types of utilizations that might be good proxies for "listing-level" severity; that is, what represents an impairment, or combination of impairments, that are severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity, regardless of age, education, or work experience.

The RWJF's biannual update on the latest developments in U.S. health care To Improve Health and Health Care is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's biannual anthology, focusing on the pressing health and health care issues facing the country. This volume covers some of the most important topics in public health, preventative medicine, and health services. Readers will find an in-depth look into the programs funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, providing policy makers, practitioners, and interested members of the public a valuable perspective to inform strategy for the coming years. As part of the Foundation's efforts to inform the public, this ongoing anthology of the RWJF provides an update on the latest developments and advances taking place in the field of health, bringing readers up to speed on where we are, and where we still need to go. Understand the new developments in reducing childhood obesity Examine innovations in health care delivery Learn how RWJF programs are making a difference to patients and providers Since 1972, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health. To further its mission of improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation strives to foster innovation, develop ideas, disseminate information, and enable committed people to devote their energies to improving the nation's well-being. To Improve Health and Health Care describes the latest outcomes and progress, for a complete overview of the American health care system.

Based on careful analysis of burden of disease and the costs ofinterventions, this second edition of 'Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edition' highlights achievable priorities; measures progresstoward providing efficient, equitable care; promotes cost-effectiveinterventions to targeted populations; and encourages integrated effortsto optimize health. Nearly 500 experts - scientists, epidemiologists, health economists,academicians, and public health practitioners - from around the worldcontributed to the data sources and methodologies, and identifiedchallenges and priorities, resulting in this integrated, comprehensivereference volume on the state of health in developing countries.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients' dignity and prevent possible harms. Ten years ago, to address these concerns as well as set guidelines for ethical health research, Congress called for a set of federal standards now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In its 2009 report, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information concludes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not protect privacy as well as it should, and that it impedes important health research.