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Health Policy Analysis Projects
American Health Information Community (the Community) meetings
Currently, HSR is providing support to the American Health Information Community (the Community), a Federal advisory committee coordinated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The Community was chartered to promote the use of health information technology (HIT) to lower medical costs, improve health care quality, and provide better information for patients and providers. In support of this advisory committee, HSR planned and facilitated a series of conference calls with HIT experts responsible for crafting high-level briefings to the Community. In addition, HSR provides ongoing logistical support for the Community and its six workgroups, maintains a workgroup Web site, and provides transcripts and summaries of each workgroup meeting.
Survey of Medicaid Policies Regarding Reproductive Health Care
Working on behalf of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, HSR conducted a 50-State survey of Medicaid policies related to reproductive health services. This project explored coverage of family planning and perinatal services under Medicaid and States' use of Medicaid waivers related to delivery of family planning services. Companion reports were produced and are available online at:
- http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/2216-index.cf
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)-Medicaid Primary Care Coordination Best Practices Handbook
HSR researched and developed a Best Practices Handbook for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Bureau of Primary Health Care (BHPC). The handbook is designed to promote and facilitate the coordination and integration of the WIC Program with Community/Migrant Health Centers and Indian Health Services (IHS) clinics. HSR worked closely with IHS, WIC, and BPHC representatives to establish the criteria for preparing the handbook. HSR conducted hundreds of phone interviews to screen and identify best practices and subsequently designed, wrote, and pretested the handbook in collaboration with a cultural competency expert and a communications agency in order to ensure its quality, relevance, and utility. The handbook is available at:
- http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/resources/
Chartbook on the Health and Well-Being of Children
As part of its support for the Maternal and Child Health Information Resource Center, HSR produced a new chartbook, The Health and Wellbeing of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation, 2005. This is the first such publication to assemble data not only on children's health but also on their growth and development, within the context of their family and community environments. The data were obtained from the National Survey of Children's Health, conducted for the first time in 2003. The survey was supported by the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration and conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This chartbook presents National and State-level findings on children's health and health care, their families, and their neighborhoods.
- http://www.mchb.hrsa.gov/thechild
Child Health USA 2004
HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau has just released Child Health USA 2004 -- an annual report on the health status and service needs of America's children that is produced by HSR. This detailed data book includes statistics for 55 health indicators on infants, children, adolescents, children with special health care needs, and women of childbearing age. Graphics and written summaries highlight long-term trends and information on population characteristics, health status, and health services utilization.
This publication is available online:
- http://mchb.hrsa.gov/mchirc/chusa_04/index.htm
Capitation Under Medicaid Managed Care
HSR conducted a study of State Medicaid programs' methods for developing managed care capitation rates. This work focused on clients served by Aid to Families of Dependent Children programs in 15 States. The study, sponsored by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, examined the processes these States followed in setting capitation rates, the data they provided plans, the negotiation processes, and the quality assurance provisions included in their contracts.
SCHIP Provisions for Children with Special Health Care Needs
For the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, HSR conducted five indepth case studies of SCHIP programs in order to explore their approaches to the care of children with special health needs.
Design of Quality Monitoring Strategies
For several States, HSR has provided analysis, facilitation, and technical assistance in the design of strategies to monitor the quality of care provided through public programs. This has included the review of contract language, analysis of indicator data, and facilitation of the selection of quality indicators in the domains of structure, process, and outcome.
Enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned HSR to conduct a study of Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) outreach enrollment systems. This indepth analysis, which involved four States, explored strategies for publicizing Medicaid and SCHIP programs, identifying and referring potentially eligible families, and streamlining the eligibility determination process.
Medicaid Benefits
For the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, we conducted a national study of prescription drug benefits offered by State Medicaid programs. Under another Kaiser-supported project, we conducted a national study of Medicaid coverage of perinatal and family planning services. This study focused on issues associated with managed care.
State Program Design
Over the past 20 years, we have worked with Governors' commissions and task forces in more than a dozen States to design and analyze statewide approaches to health care access. This has included the design of benefit packages, the development of cost estimates, and the facilitation of stakeholder meetings and group decisionmaking processes.
Title V Needs Assessment Evaluation
For the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, we are conducting a systematic study of States' Title V needs assessments in order to identify promising practices for the 2005 needs assessment process.
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