Word: rand
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Those, at least, are the arguments, though it was impossible to know how well-founded they were - until now. In twin studies published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Rand Corp. reports on an extensive survey of cost, quality and availability of retail health operations, and on nearly all measures, the clinics scored high...
...perhaps the more relevant question is, How good is the care at these stop-and-shop operations? To answer that, the Rand investigators focused on just one state, Minnesota, because clinics are well-established there and because one large health plan has been providing clinic coverage for its members for five years, meaning that there was a rich vein of data to mine. The investigators focused on data on 2,100 patients who had gone to a clinic for one of three common complaints: sore throat, urinary tract infection and earache. These were compared to patients who had visited doctors...
Average cost per lab test in the Rand study also differed significantly depending on the provider: $15 at retail clinics, $27 at urgent-care facilities, $33 at doctors' offices and a whopping $113 at the ER. The study did not bear out the fear that retail clinics would be inclined to overprescribe drugs, and when the clinics did write a prescription, the out-of-pocket cost was lower: $21 compared to a high...
...study by the California-based Rand Corp., a leading policy think tank, joins that call. It notes that while Mexico has 370 police officers per 100,000 people, the U.S. has only 225 - but enjoys a far more effective and trustworthy police culture. "Security in Mexico: Implications for U.S. Policy Options" recommends that since Calderón's military crusade can only be a short-term drug-war strategy, the U.S. must "engage in a strategic partnership with Mexico that emphasizes reform and longer-term institution-building." One goal, aside from reining in police corruption, is to bridge the chaotic...
Pedro Canabal, spokesman for Mexico's Tax Administration Service, which oversees the customs agents, seemed to echo policy recommendations like Rand's last weekend when he emphasized the importance of more sophisticated training and detection equipment - of better cops rather than better copters. "We need more than just a body with a weapon," said Canabal. He gets it. And if the Mexicans get it, it's about time the Americans...