In response to an Institute of Medicine recommendation, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are leading an effort to monitor the status of the health care safety net. The initiative consists of a broad range of local area measures related to safety net providers and the populations they serve (select for Fact Sheet).
This product—Tools for Monitoring the Health Care Safety Net—offers strategies and concrete tools for assessing local health care safety nets. With topics ranging from estimating the size of local uninsured populations to using administrative data to presenting information to policymakers, it can assist State and local health officials, planners, and analysts in assess the capacity and viability of their existing safety net providers as well as understand the characteristics and health outcomes for the populations served.
Edited by Robin M. Weinick, Ph.D., and John Billings, J.D.
Introduction
By Robin M. Weinick, Ph.D.
and John Billings, J.D.
Foreword
By Carolyn Clancy, M.D.
Part 1. Gathering Information About People and Providers
1. Estimating the Size of the Uninsured
and Other Vulnerable Populations in a Local Area
By Lynn A. Blewett, Ph.D. and Timothy Beebe,
Ph.D.
2. Local Data Collection Strategies for Safety Net Assessment
By Joel C. Cantor, Sc.D.
3. Assessing the Financial Health of Hospitals
By Jack Needleman, Ph.D.
4. Assessing Safety Net Provider Financial Health: A Simple
Measurement Tool
By Timothy L. Clouse, M.A.; Gilbert Silva III,
M.S.; and Robert Gilliam, M.B.A., C.M.A.
Part 2. Understanding and Using the Information
5. Using Administrative Data to Monitor Access, Identify
Disparities, and Assess Performance of the Safety Net
By John Billings, J.D.
6. Mapping Tools for Monitoring the Safety Net
By Robert L. Phillips, Jr., M.D., M.S.P.H.;
Andrew Bazemore, M.D.; and Thomas J. Miyoshi, M.S.W.
7. Integrated State Data Systems
By Walter P. "Pete" Bailey, M.P.H.
8. Presenting Information to Decisionmakers:
A Guide for Policy Analysts
By Lawrence S. Lewin and Marion Ein Lewin
Part 3. Understanding Special Circumstances: The Safety Net in Rural Areas
9. Rural Health Care Safety Nets
By David Hartley, Ph.D., M.H.A. and John Gale,
M.S.
Interactive Tool and Software
Tool for Financial Risk Assessment
Worksheet and Required Data (By Clouse et al.)
Software for Use of the Emergency
Department Classification Algorithm (By Billings)
Current as of September 2003
AHRQ Publication No. 03-0027
Internet Citation:
Tools for Monitoring the Health Care Safety Net. AHRQ Publication No. 03-0027, September 2003. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/data/safetynet/tools.htm
Return to Safety Net Monitoring
Data & Surveys
AHRQ Home Page
Department of Health and Human Services