Innovation in Delivery

Spurred by the shift from fee-for-service, as well as patient demands for greater convenience, providers, hospitals, and health systems continue to explore alternatives for delivering care. In particular, the use of telemedicine, already prominent in the pre-COVID-19 environment, exploded during the pandemic, when social distancing and lockdown policies limited most in-person encounters. RAND research is assessing the growth of telemedicine and its implications. RAND also charted the growth of retail clinics and their role in the health care landscape.

Other alternatives—such as medical homes and accountable care organizations (ACOs)—offer new designs intended to improve quality and cut costs. RAND studies have assessed the processes and costs of transforming conventional practices into alternative models. RAND researchers have also begun to measure and evaluate health care system performance to understand what distinguishes high-performing systems.