Research Library

In this study, the authors investigate where U.S. patients with limited health insurance coverage receive maintenance dialysis. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: http://bit.ly/2Q15Jpt

The authors examine the investments, trade-offs and broad policy changes necessary to reimagine the U.S. health care delivery system.

This report is the culmination of a 16-month-long survey of residents in Houston's Third Ward. The data aims to inform strategies and investments that support resident access to health care, transportation and other quality-of-life concerns while maintaining the community's character and affordability. The authors thank the Houston Endowment for its generous support.

The authors investigate the relationship between the number of freestanding emergency departments entering a local market and overall spending on emergency care. Academic Emergency Medicine: http://bit.ly/2pGwYMw

When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of health care rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, the authors write. Journal of General Internal Medicine: https://bit.ly/2lxd4RY

By Kevin F. Erickson, Bo Zhao, Jingbo Niu, Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, Jay Bhattacharya, Glenn M. Chertow and Vivian Ho The acquisition of independently owned dialysis facilities by facility chains lead to slower decreases in mortality and hospitalization rates, write the authors. JAMA Network Open: https://bit.ly/2WPYGSD

Freestanding emergency departments in Texas’ largest cities have not alleviated emergency room congestion or improved patient wait times in nearby hospitals, but they can reduce wait times in smaller communities, conclude the authors of this study.

By providing regulated and safe access to medical cannabis to people with demonstrated need, the Texas Legislature can provide justified relief, help reduce the opioid epidemic, and save Texas millions of dollars, write the authors.

Hospital consolidation and acquisition of physician practices theoretically make sense by creating economies of scale and complementarities in patient services. But there is also evidence that such mergers do little to restrain prices or improve patient care. Click here for a Baker Institute podcast featuring Marah Short, associate director of the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences (CHB), who recently published a paper, co-authored by CHB director Vivian Ho, on the issue.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 placed a $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local taxes taxpayers may deduct on their federal income tax returns. In this report, public finance fellow Joyce Beebe examines the pros and cons of the limit and state-level efforts to circumvent the cap.