Description: A rethinking of current provider reimbursement, focusing on incentives instead of simply cutting fees. The recommended 2-pronged approach would feature integrated provider organizations as well as evidence-based decision making organized around episodes of care.

Description: Shannon Brownlee shares her perspectives on the current health care crisis, including: inconsistent treatment patterns across providers and geographic regions, providers lacking evidence-based guidelines, the need for better independent clinical research to establish those guidelines, and the limits to consumerism's potential to fix the crisis.

Description: Review of a research project, co-sponsored by the SOA, which examined 83 organizations and over 150 programs that measure the quality and efficiency of hospitals and physicians.

Description: This article from major US payers describes palliative care as a scaleable means of improving quality and reducing costs during serious and complex illness.