Survey Examines Consumer-Driven Health Plans; Tutorial Analyzes State of Health Care in New Orleans Before and After Katrina; Study Examines Physician-Owned Surgical Centers

• "Findings From the 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Survey," Commonwealth Fund: The survey found that enrollment in consumer-driven health plans with a tax-advantaged account represented 2% of privately insured adults last year, up from 1% in 2006, and that one in 10 insured adults had high-deductible plans without accounts. The survey also found that the percentage of consumer-driven health plan enrollees particularly increased among higher-income adults who are more likely to be in better health. In addition, the survey found that over three years, there have been no significant gains in the amount of provider cost and quality data made available by health plans (Commonwealth Fund release, 3/18).
  
  
• "Tutorial on Health Care in New Orleans Before and After Hurricane Katrina," Kaiser Family Foundation: The tutorial, narrated by Adele Shartzer, a policy analyst with the Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, discusses the health care system in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. The tutorial draws on Kaiser Family Foundation surveys, interviews and other resources to describe the hurricane's effect on New Orleans' residents and the health care system and also discusses the progress that has been made in restoring health services, the gaps in care that remain and the key challenges in rebuilding the delivery system (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 3/18).
  
  
• "Where Do I Send Thee? Does Physician-Ownership Affect Referral Patterns to Ambulatory Surgery Centers?" Health Affairs: The study looks at whether a physician's ownership stake in an ambulatory surgical center would affect the types of patients the physician would refer to the facility. The researchers found that physicians who refer the most patients to physician-owned ASCs disproportionately send privately insured patients to those centers while sending Medicaid beneficiaries to hospital outpatient departments (Health Affairs release, 3/18).