An update on the community tracking study: a focus on the changing health system.

A major research project of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) analyzes how the health system is evolving in 60 communities across the United States and the effects of those changes on people. Underway since 1996, the Community Tracking Study, which is funded exclusively by the The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a longitudinal project that relies on periodic site visits and surveys of households, physicians and employers. The study is intended to provide a sound information base for decisions made by health care leaders. This Issue Brief provides an update of the study's design and research agenda.