Health policy journals and newsletters regularly report tantalizing findings from demonstrations and evaluations of promising strategies to promote the efficient production and delivery of high-quality health care. However, the methods used to analyze these strategies seldom make the most of opportunities to produce scientific evidence of their economic and other benefits or to inform scientific theories or hypotheses. The purpose of this Webinar was to bring together health care delivery innovators with economists, methodologists, and other scientific experts to explore how to design and leverage investments in demonstration projects and other evaluations of strategies intended to improve health care value to enhance the science they produce.

The Webinar consisted of two presentations followed by a facilitated discussion. Over 100 people registered and expressed interest in the topic and 72 people were either present or logged on for all or part of the Webinar.  Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, of the Harvard School of Public Health, gave a presentation on the Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration program and an analysis he and his colleagues conducted on its effects on hospitals with a high disproportionate share indexes. Timothy K. Lake, Ph.D., from Mathematica Policy Research gave a presentation on a recent qualitative study he and his colleagues conducted on provider organizations’ implementation of care delivery practices and interventions suitable for use in Accountable Care Organizations. Then, a group of invited experts participated in a facilitated discussion of the advances in scientific methods required, and the logistical and other considerations that need to be thought through, to improve on the knowledge generated by future projects. Then the discussion was opened up to all Webinar participants in a question and answer format.

Meeting summary