Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., one of the most influential physician healthcare policy thought-leaders, shares with us why he’s involved in leading a company whose mission is to change physician ordering and referral patterns—and shares his perspectives on where the value-based contracting train is headed.

The National Quality Forum has released a report outlining 37 measures of health to address the specific needs of rural communities. The report builds on the work of the NQF Rural Health Advisory Group and updates the list first developed by the group in 2017–2018. The project is funded by CMS as part of the agency’s ongoing strategic focus on rural health, and includes 21 hospital setting measures and 16 ambulatory care setting measures.

The CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in conjunction with HHS's Office of Environmental Justice, has announced the release of the Environmental Justice Index (EJI). The EJI aims to build off existing environmental justice indexes to create one environmental justice score for communities across the U.S., to assist public health officials in identifying and mapping areas most at risk for health impacts of environmental burden.