Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

Through the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), the Personalized Health Care Initiative sponsored a workshop in Washington, D.C., on July 7, 2008 entitled “Understanding the Needs of Consumers in the Use of Genome-based Health Information Services.

A primary task for youth in transitioning to adulthood is sustaining employment to be self-sufficient. Studies of former youth who age out of foster care find that they generally experience unstable employment patterns and earn very low incomes between ages 18 and 20. However, less is known about whether these youths' initial patterns of employment instability and low earnings persist.

According to the annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees, the financial outlook for the two programs is not favorable. Under the central forecasts reported for the past 16 years under both Republican and Democratic Administrations, both programs face significant long-range

This comparative study first identifies and describes two cohorts of nursing facility decedents, those that did and did not elect Medicare hospice. Then, using data for up to one year prior to death, the study characterizes utilization and quality of care for these two cohorts.