Review of performance-based incentives in community-based family planning programmes.

Background: One strategy for improving family planning (FP) uptake at the community level is the use of performance-based incentives (PBIs), which offer community distributors financial incentives to recruit more users of FP. This article examines the use of PBIs in community-based FP programmes via a literature search of the peer-reviewed and grey literature conducted in April 2013.

Results: A total of 28 community-based FP programmes in 21 countries were identified as having used PBIs.

Adoption of health promotion practices in a cohort of U.S. physician organizations.

Background: Physician organizations such as medical groups and independent practice associations can play a vital role in health promotion through the adoption of effective health promotion practices such as health risk assessments, patient reminder systems, and health promotion education programs.

Purpose: To examine organizational changes in a cohort of physician organizations and changing health promotion practices.

Methods: Data for a cohort of 369 physician organizations in the U.

Systematic Review: the use of vouchers for reproductive health services in developing countries: systematic review.

Objectives: To identify where vouchers have been used for reproductive health (RH) services, to what extent RH voucher programmes have been evaluated, and whether the programmes have been effective.

Methods: A systematic search of the peer review and grey literature was conducted to identify RH voucher programmes and evaluation findings. Experts were consulted to verify RH voucher programme information and identify further programmes and studies not found in the literature search.

Adoption of policies to treat tobacco dependence in U.S. medical groups.

Background: There remains an ongoing need to reduce tobacco use in the U.S. Physician organizations, such as medical groups, can support healthcare providers to be more effective in their delivery of tobacco cessation by adopting practices recommended in the Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence (PHS Guideline).

MDS-based state Medicaid reimbursement and the ADL-decline quality indicator.

Purpose: We examined the relationship between the quality indicator for decline in activities of daily living (ADL) and the use of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) for determining Medicaid skilled nursing facility reimbursement.

Design And Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the 2004 National MDS Facility Quality Indicator reports as the dependent variable in a multilevel regression model. Our primary explanatory variable was a state-level binary variable distinguishing whether or not the state used an MDS-based Medicaid-reimbursement system in 2004.

Impact of Medicaid reimbursement on mental health quality indicators.

Objective: To examine the relationship between the use of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) for determining Medicaid reimbursement to nursing facilities and the MDS Quality Indicators examining nursing facility residents' mental health.

Data Sources: The 2004 National MDS facility Quality Indicator reports served as the dependent variables. Explanatory variables were based on the 2004 Online Survey Certification and Reporting system (OSCAR) and an examination of existing reports, a review of the State Medicaid Plans, and State Medicaid personnel.

Adoption of system strategies for tobacco cessation by state medicaid programs.

Background: The Public Health Service's Clinical Practice Guideline for treating tobacco dependence recommends 6 system-wide strategies for health administrators, insurers, and purchasers to support tobacco cessation.

Methods: A 24-question survey was sent to each state Medicaid program office in the fall of 2005, including questions to assess whether each state Medicaid program adopted 4 of the 6 system strategies most relevant to Medicaid contracting.

Results: The number of system strategies adopted by state Medicaid programs in 2005 ranged from 0 to 4 of the 4 strategies examined.

Knowledge of Medicaid coverage and effectiveness of smoking treatments.

Background: Tobacco dependence has enormous health and financial repercussions in the United States, particularly among Medicaid enrollees, where a disproportionate share of the population smokes (36% compared to 23% in the general population). This paper examines two factors associated with the use of tobacco-dependence treatments (TDTs) in the Medicaid population: knowledge of TDT coverage and perceived effectiveness of TDTs.

Methods: Medicaid-enrolled smokers and recent quitters in four areas in the United States with comprehensive coverage of TDTs were interviewed as part of a random-digit-dial telephone survey in September 2003.

State-mandated benefit review laws.

Objective: To determine which states have laws that require the review of mandated health insurance benefits and describe the various approaches states take in reviewing mandated benefits, as stated in the mandated benefit review (MBR) laws.

Data Sources: We queried online databases of the individual state statutes and reviewed the state statutes and state legislative agendas for all 50 states and Washington, DC to identify those states with active MBR laws as of September 2004.

Study Design: We reviewed the identified MBR laws to catalog their various components.

Medicaid coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments.

This paper presents an update on the availability of tobacco-dependence treatments in Medicaid benefit packages from 1998 to 2003 and discusses variation in states' approaches for addressing tobacco cessation. In 2003 thirty-seven states had coverage for at least one evidence-based treatment. Since 1998, thirteen Medicaid programs have added coverage for at least one, while five programs have expanded coverage of these treatments.