How to Identify Trends in Health Care

Identifying trends in health care is easy because there are numerous private and public organizations that do precisely that. One example is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The AHRQ is responsible for the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), which helps governments at all levels make decisions about health care.

Another example is The Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation "conducts research and analysis on trends in the marketplace, particularly as they affect vulnerable groups like the poor and the elderly, and on policy proposals that involve the private health care system."

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Internet access

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Instructions

HCUP

• 1

  Go to HCUP-us.ahrq.gov. The website presents a multitude of options on health care trends, including Facts and Figures, Fact Books, Database Reports, Highlights and Statistical Briefs.

• 2

  Click on the "Statistical Briefs" link; it presents information on about 30 important topics.

• 3

  Click on the link on the topic you are interested in. This link will take you to more specific topics. Selecting "Cancer," for example, will give you an opportunity to find out trends on several kinds of cancer.

• 4

  Click on the "News Brief" link on the subtopic you are interested in. If you select "News Brief" next to the "Colorectal Cancer" link, you will read a short, easy-to-read report that provides excellent information on trends.

  This report says "While the admission rate for people hospitalized primarily for colorectal cancer declined 15 percent between 1995 and 2006, the hospitalization rate for patients who were admitted for other conditions but also had colorectal cancer increased 15 percent."

  Other reports also have excellent information on health care trends.

• 5

  Go to the bottom of the reports you are interested in. Each report has the e-mail address and phone number of someone who can give you more information.

• 6

  Go back to hcup-us.ahrq.gov.

• 7

  Look at the information under Facts and Figures, Fact Books, Database Reports, and Highlights, and click on links that have information on a specific topic that might be interesting you.

Kaiser Family Foundation

• 8

  Go to Kff.org.

• 9

  Click a link for a topic on the upper left part of the screen. The "Browse By Topic" links provide information on trends in HIV/AIDS, minority health, women's health and numerous other topics.

• 10

  Go back to Kff.org/insurance/7031.

• 11

  Select a link below the headline "Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace," that opens up a section of the report. Each section has graphs that depict changes in health care.

• 12

  Go to Kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Report. This report summarizes health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations.