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Mathematica to Evaluate Demonstration Program to Improve
Quality of Care in CHIP, Medicaid
Project Aims to Find Effective Strategies to Improve Children’s Health Care
Media Advisory: September 21, 2010
Contact: Amy Berridge, (609) 945-3378
Issue: Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded $20 million in first-year grants to 10 grantee states under a five-year, $100 million effort to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Funded by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), this Quality Demonstration Grant Program will help establish a national quality system that integrates innovative approaches in performance measurement, health information technology, and service delivery. Because some grantee states have elected to partner with other states, the grants will support the implementation and evaluation of quality improvement strategies for children in a total of 18 states.
Study: To assess the implementation and outcomes of these grants, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, awarded a five-year contract of more than $8.25 million to Mathematica Policy Research and its research partners, the Urban Institute and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Child Policy Research Center. The goal of the national evaluation is to provide information on how to replicate successful programs to improve children’s health care quality, enhance families’ access to information, and promote consumer choice. The research team will work with grantees to gather qualitative and quantitative information on the implementation and outcomes of states’ efforts to use recommended measures of children’s care quality, promote health information technology for delivery of care, test new provider-based levels of service delivery, demonstrate the impact of a model electronic medical health record, and/or test other state-designed approaches to quality improvement in Medicaid and CHIP.
Quote: “State and federal policymakers will be looking to the outcomes of this demonstration program to shape future quality improvement initiatives,” said Henry Ireys, Mathematica senior fellow and project director. “As we synthesize lessons learned across these demonstration projects, our results should point toward effective strategies for improving the quality of the nation’s health care for children.”
About Mathematica and its Partners: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, early childhood, disability, education, employment, family support, international, and nutrition policies and programs.
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social, economic, and governance challenges facing the nation. Its Health Policy Center analyzes trends and the underlying causes of changes in health insurance coverage, access to care, the use of health care services, and such related subjects as new provider payment and care delivery models designed to improve access and quality while controlling costs. The center's research has focused on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare, private insurance markets, mechanisms for expanding coverage to the uninsured, and state and federal health care reform. More information on The Urban Institute and its Health Policy Center may be found at www.urban.org and www.urban.org/health_policy/.
The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Child Policy Research Center (CPRC) develops, translates and communicates evidence to measurably improve child health and well-being and the quality of health care for children. The Center's main themes include population child health with a focus on perinatal outcomes and childhood obesity; Medicaid and the State Child Health Insurance Programs, and improving health system performance including quality, patient safety and health information technology. More information on the CPRC may be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org/cprc.