Accountable Care Organizations: The Missing Link to Engagement in Health and Health Care?

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) aim to transform health care delivery and provider payment in a way that improves patient access, engagement and quality of care. If successful, ACOs may help the U.S.

Socio-structural and behavioral risk factors associated with trafficked history of female bar/spa entertainers in the sex trade in the Philippines.

Objective: To explore factors associated with trafficking (deceptive/coercive entry to sex trade) among female bar/spa entertainers who traded sex in the Philippines.

Method: Female bar/spa entertainers who traded sex in the past 6months were recruited from 25bar/spa venues in Metro Manila (April 2009-January 2010) and assessed via cross-sectional survey data collection for HIV-risk-related socio-structural factors associated with deceptive/coercive entry into the sex trade. The study employed hierarchical linear modeling.

Epignathus: large obstructive teratoma arising from the palate.

This report describes an interesting case providing a brief review of the literature and highlighting the complexity in management and definitive treatment of a premature neonate with an obstructive epignathus teratoma and polydactyly bilaterally. Additionally, this case is unique because of the extremely large size of the oral tumor in relation to the neonate's total body size.

The consumer-driven approach: defining and measuring success.

Employers' reluctance to implement consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) is at least in part due to their not understanding how to define and measure the success of CDHPs. To assist employers, the authors define potential points of success for CDHPs in the areas of consumer engagement, consumer financial considerations and employee health and productivity. They then offer ways of measuring success in those areas, as well as in the area of employer cost control.

The consumer-driven approach: can it pick up where managed care left off?

Managed care has failed and health care costs are once again out of control. Given the current political, social and economic environment, there are now two options: a single-payer health care system, or an aggressive and global employer health benefits redesign that strongly encourages consumer-driven behavior. This article discusses the failure of managed care and ways that employers can promote consumer-driven behavior now using available tools and plan provisions.