Health Services Research Commons^™

Enhancing Utilization Of The Findings From The Youth Reproductive Health Project In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Anta Fall Diagne

Reproductive Health

This operations research (OR) study focused on providing information appropriate to the cultural context of Senegalese adolescents on a variety of reproductive health issues including: knowledge of the human body; puberty; sexuality; gender roles; different cultural, familial, and peer values regarding sexual and reproductive behavior; contraception; responsible parenthood; STIs and AIDS; and sources of help and services. The study was undertaken in three urban communities in northern Senegal and had an overall positive result on young people's reproductive health knowledge, enhanced community understanding of youth reproductive health needs, and showed that a multisectoral approach is vital to supporting young people’s …

Strengthening Health And Family Planning Services In Low Performing And Hard-To-Reach Areas Of Bangladesh: Workshop Report, Ubaidur Rob, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder

Reproductive Health

Although Bangladesh has established a comprehensive physical infrastructure to deliver health and family planning services with a network of primary health care facilities in rural areas, the impact of this health service network has been much less than expected because services do not reach all regions effectively. Two divisions, Sylhet and Chittagong, remain the most disadvantaged in terms of health and population outcomes and access to services, compounded by poor utilization of facilities in these areas. Moreover, the current health and population sector programs are beset with human resources and infrastructural problems. The Population Council organized a workshop to find …

Operations Research For Managers Of Reproductive Health Programs, James R. Foreit, M.E. Khan

Reproductive Health

The course presented in this publication defines operations research (OR) as the study of factors under the control of health program managers and other decision-makers. The purpose of OR is to improve programs and provide information for management decision-making. Successful OR is characterized by a close collaboration between program managers and researchers throughout the study. The course focuses on OR as a branch of the behavioral sciences and deals with formative research and field experiments. It concentrates on improving the research knowledge of managers who have had little or no training in research. The focus of this interactive course is …

India: Quality Assurance Procedure Monitors And Improves Quality Of Services, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A quality assurance (QA) procedure was pilot-tested and subsequently scaled up throughout the state of Gujarat, India, after demonstrating that a 65-item checklist is an efficient tool for identifying and remedying gaps in service delivery. From 2004–06, FRONTIERS developed and tested a standardized QA procedure. The State Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) used the procedure to assess health-care services in rural clinics in two pilot districts each in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Based on positive results, the State MOHFW expanded the QA procedure in a phased manner throughout all 25 districts of Gujarat. The model is …

Clark County Child Death Review: 2008 Annual Report, Nevada Institute For Children’S Research And Policy, Tara Phebus, Denise Tanata Ashby, Karen Z. Silcott

Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy Reports

The primary goal of all Child Death Review Teams is to prevent future child deaths. The child death review process enables jurisdictions to come together in a collaborative, multidisciplinary forum to openly discuss detailed circumstances in an effort to gain a better understanding of child deaths. The team provides a venue for representatives from a variety of both public and private agencies as well as community organizations to share information in a confidential and non-threatening environment. The National Center for Child Death Review (hereinafter, National Center), which is supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department …

Snapshot 2008: Maine Workers With Disabilities, Maine’S Commission On Disability And Employment, Choices Ceo Project

Disability & Aging

No abstract provided.

Modeling Physical Activity In Working Adults: How Suitable Is The Expanded Parallel Process Model?, Adwoa B-H-Sam

Health Services Research Dissertations

This study is an assessment of the usefulness of the Expanded Parallel Process Model in predicting health enhancing physical activity as an outcome variable. The theory is tested in the context of risk for coronary heart disease and involves secondary analyses of a dataset from a group of working adults. These individuals had elected first to participate in a health plan ‘Quality Improvement Study’ and were then randomly selected to receive an intervention program designed to get people to be more active.

Data on self-reported demographics, physical activity levels, health status characteristics and perceptions measured on a Likert-type scale known …

Healing The Health Care System: Summaries From The Department Of Health Policy Summer Seminar, David B. Nash, Nora Dowd Eisenhower, Rosemarie Greco, Deborah C. Meiris

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Editorial Introduction:
The disease management field continues to evolve. The range of chronic diseases treated has expanded to include such conditions as obesity and pain management, and the care continuum now encompasses wellness, prevention, and population health. One population that is an ideal candidate for our collective efforts is that of older adults. Global and national population projections reveal the impending staggering increase in the age 65+ cohort, which will cause a sharp increase in the demand for health care and other services due to such age-related issues as multiple chronic conditions, falls, and depression.

To begin to address these …

The "Crossroads" And Beyond, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Report On The U.S. Summit: "Chronic Care At The Crossroads: Exploring Solutions For Chronic Care Management", Janice L. Clarke

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

On Tuesday, July 17, 2007 in Washington, DC, Intel Corporation assembled a group of the nation’s most respected health leaders to discuss the issues surrounding chronic care and an aging population and explore solutions to these highly complex and increasingly urgent challenges for the US health care system. The highlevel summit, hosted by Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, was held in the auditorium of the National Museum for Women in the Arts and attended, either in person or via the simultaneous webcast, by presidents, chairmen, and executive directors of influential organizations including the National Business Coalition on Health, the National Medical …

How Does Quality Enter Into Health Care Purchasing Decisions?, Neil I. Goldfarb, Vittorio Maio, Chureen T. Carter, Laura Pizzi, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

A number of employers, business consortia, and public purchasers are promoting "value-based purchasing" as a way to improve the quality of patient care. Some purchasers are using publicly available information on health plan and provider performance to make their health plan and provider choices, while others are using their market power to drive improvements in patient care and safety. This article examines six key strategies used by purchasers.

Barriers To Medicare Hospice Utilization: A Qualitative Study Of Maine's Medicare Hospice Providers, Judith B. Tupper Dhed, Ches, Cpps

Disability & Aging

This report, prepared for the Maine Hospice Council and funded by the Carpenter Foundation, presents findings of a qualitative study of barriers to hospice utilization. This study includes the perspectives of all 26 Medicare certified hospice providers in Maine. Significant findings of the qualitative study include: A continuing need to educate the general public about hospice and the Medicare benefit. Maine health care providers have low referral rates to the hospice programs and often misunderstand the regulations and guidelines of the hospice benefit. The referral process to hospice programs is based on fragile systems of communication, fraught with potential miscues, …

Addressing Potential Conflicts Of Interest Arising From The Multiple Roles Of Colorado’S Community Centered Boards, Maureen Booth Mrp, Ma, Eileen Griffin Jd

Disability & Aging

This document summarizes the information we gathered, our analysis of potential conflicts of interest, and recommendations for addressing opportunities for improvement. The information we gathered is based on document review, input from stakeholders, and a review of practices in four other states.

Diagnostic Classifications And Resource Utilization Of Decedents Served By The Department Of Veterans Affairs, Sonia A. Duffy, Laurel Copeland, Faith Hopp, Robert J. Zalenski

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Given the volume and cost of inpatient care during the last year of life, there is a critical need to identify patterns of dying as a means of planning end-of-life care services, especially for the growing number of older persons who receive services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods: A retrospective computerized record review was conducted of 20,933 VHA patients who died as inpatients between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2002. Diagnoses were aggregated into one of five classification patterns of death and analyzed in terms of health care resource utilization (mean number of inpatient days and …

Children's Behavioral Health Services In Baltimore: Walking The Continuum, Jennifer Ryan

National Health Policy Forum

This site visit explored the range of behavioral health services available for children in the city of Baltimore and in the state more broadly. Like many states, the policy community in Maryland has been working hard to meet the challenges of providing an effective continuum of care in the context of complex financing incentives and an overburdened educational and public health care system. Several promising practices have emerged, including the Wraparound practice model that offers individualized, comprehensive services and natural supports to achieve a positive set of outcomes for the child and family. The wraparound model incorporates both traditional services …

Medicare Advantage Payment Policy, Mark Merlis

National Health Policy Forum

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have become a source of supplemental benefits for many Medicare beneficiaries. In many cases, MA plans are able to finance these extra benefits only because Medicare is paying them more than it would have spent to cover the same beneficiaries on a fee-for-service basis. As Congress considers curbing MA plan payments, this background paper explains how MA plans are paid and reviews recent trends in plan participation and enrollment. It then considers key issues raised by proposals to change the payment system.

Physician Profiling: Can Medicare Paint An Accurate Picture?, Laura A. Dummit

National Health Policy Forum

Physician profiling, that is, the comparison of the health care services used by a physician’s patients to average service use or another benchmark, has been proposed as a way to improve Medicare. It has been used by private health plans and physician groups to identify both efficient practice patterns and the physicians who practice efficiently. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have recommended that Medicare adopt physician profiling to slow spending growth and improve efficiency. Recent legislation would mandate that Medicare employ profiling. This issue brief reviews MedPAC and GAO’s analyses of profiling, concerns …

The Influence Of Ambient Lighting Levels On Postural Sway In Healthy Children Ages 9 To 11, Yvette Blanchard, Rebecca Mcveigh, Megan Graham, Melissa Cadet, Kabulo Mwilambwe, Christi Scott

All PTHMS Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine whether postural sway in healthy children varied in different levels of ambient lighting. Twelve boys and 26 girls with a mean age of 118 months stood on a force platform under three conditions: eyes closed, eyes opened in regular light (200 lx) and eyes opened in dim light (3 lx). Analysis of variance and pairwise comparisons revealed significantly more postural sway with the eyes closed condition compared to the regular and dim light conditions but no differences between the regular and dim light conditions. While our results on postural sway during the …

Planning Initiative Award – 2006-2007 Access To Reproductive Health Services For Low-Ses Pregnant/Parenting Teens In Clark County: A Comprehensive Needs Assessment, Nevada Institute For Children's Research And Policy Reports, Jennifer Zipoy, Tara Swanson, Jean Henry, Denise Tanata, Uzma Farmanali,, Karen Silcott

Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy Reports

The Planning Initiative Award (PIA) project was a collaborative effort between the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy (NICRP) and the Center for Health Promotion (CHP)/Department of Health Promotion, research centers in the School of Public Health. The purpose of the project was to conduct an assessment of the access to reproductive health services among lower SES pregnant and parenting teens in the Las Vegas Valley. The project was designed to identify gaps in existing services and assist researchers in developing communication networks between community members, providers, educators, and policymakers. The data collected during the project period has great …

Medicare's Use Of Risk Adjustment, Gerald F. Kominski

National Health Policy Forum

Medicare accounts for expected differences in resource needs of patients or health plan enrollees by risk-adjusting the payments it makes to health care facilities, such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies, and the premiums it pays to health plans. Risk adjustment is intended to ensure that payments or premiums are adequate for patients or plan enrollees who require more resources than average in order to protect beneficiary access as well as the financial condition of the provider or plan. At the same time, risk adjustment lowers payments or premiums for beneficiaries who are expected to use fewer …

Medicaid And State Budgets: Clearing Storm, Foggy Forecast, Courtney Burke

National Health Policy Forum

This issue brief examines the recent history and trends in state budgets and considers how those trends have influenced the role of the Medicaid program. The paper offers several indicators for predicting the future of states’ fiscal standing, cautioning that, although the “stormy” period from 2001 to 2003 is over, states face many challenges in the near future. This issue brief also poses several questions regarding the appropriate roles of state and federal governments in administering the Medicaid program. These questions become particularly important as the population ages and states increasingly take the lead in developing solutions for covering the …

Community-Based Long-Term Care: Wisconsin Stays Ahead, Judith D. Moore, Carol O'Shaughnessy, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

This report describes a site visit to Wisconsin in August 2007 that focused on the use of home and community-based services, both public and private, to delay or avoid the need for institutional care. Wisconsin was chosen because it has long been a leader among states in developing such services for the elderly and persons with disabilities. At the time of the visit, a managed long-term care program, Family Care, was operating on a pilot basis in five counties. The Partnership Program, a four-site demonstration integrating acute and long-term care for the dual eligible population (both frail elderly and younger …

Shrinking Inpatient Psychiatric Capacity: Cause For Celebration Or Concern?, Eileen Salinsky, Christopher Loftis

National Health Policy Forum

This issue brief examines reported capacity constraints in inpatient psychiatric services and describes how these services fit within the continuum of care for mental health treatment. The paper summarizes the type and range of acute care services used to intervene in mental health crises, including both traditional hospital-based services and alternative crisis interventions, such as mobile response teams. It reviews historical trends in the supply of inpatient psychiatric beds and explores the anticipated influence of prospective payment for inpatient psychiatric services under Medicare. The paper also considers other forces that may affect the need for and supply of acute mental …

Preps Surveillance: Summary Of Existing Survey Measures And Recommendations For Ongoing Efforts, Lois Biener, Karen Bogen, Catherine A. Garrett

Center for Survey Research Publications

Over the past decade or more, tobacco companies have introduced cigarettes with lower content of some toxins than regular and light cigarettes. These new cigarettes, referred to as a class as Potential Reduced Exposure Products (PREPs), have typically been introduced into test markets, not nationwide, which means they are not yet widely known or recognized by name or description by most consumers. However, the introduction of these products is of great concern to public health advocates, who do not believe that enough research, particularly long term research, has been done to know whether or not the PREPs, even if proven …

Insights From The 2007 Disease Management Colloquium., David B Nash, Tine Hansen-Turton, Tracey Moorhead, Harry Leider, Donald F Wilson

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Health Information Technology Adoption Among Health Centers: A Digital Divide In The Making?, Adil Moiduddin, Daniel S. Gaylin

National Health Policy Forum

This background paper describes the current status of efforts to implement health information technology in community health centers. It summarizes the benefits experienced by health centers that have pioneered the use of information technology and examines the challenges that have hindered wider adoption. The paper identifies a range of policy options that have been considered to promote broader use of information technology by health centers.

Quality Of Care Measures For Migraine: A Comprehensive Review, Joshua J. Gagne, Brian Leas, Jennifer H. Lofland, Neil Goldfarb, Frederick Freitag, Stephen Silberstein

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Migraine headache is a highly prevalent, chronic, episodic disorder that is associated with high direct and indirect costs. Migraine headache impacts not only patients, but also their employers due to substantial decreases in workplace productivity. Despite the prevalence and clinical and economic burdens of migraine, no national efforts to develop and implement standardized measures of quality of care have been made. The objective of this study was to collect and report on existing quality of care measures for migraine that could be suitable for quality measurement at the health-plan level. Published literature, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's National …

Maine State Employee Survey On Disability, Commission On Disability And Employment, Department Of Financial And Administrative Services Bureau Of Human Resources, Muskie School Of Public Service University Of Southern Maine

Disability & Aging

The Executive Order regarding Maine State Government as a Model Employer of people with disabilities was signed on February 24, 2006. The order included several action steps, including a survey of State employees to ascertain the prevalence of workers with disabilities in State employment.

Maine’s Bureau of Human Resources and the Commission on Disability and Employment were named to oversee this survey. The University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service administered the survey and analyzed results. Each of these three organizations are members of an Executive Order Working Group designed to overall all action steps under the Executive …

A Trade-Off Proposal For Funding Long-Term Care, Yung-Ping Chen

Gerontology Institute Publications

Long-term care can be a depressing subject. Most of us tend not to think about it. However, we cannot long avoid it as the 76 million baby boomers begin reaching older ages in a few short years. According to projections, in 40 years, those aged 65 to 84 (numbering 31.6 million in 2005) will more than double, and those 85 plus (about 5.1 million in 2005), who are more at risk of dependency, will more than triple (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 and 2006). Heavy reliance on Medicaid, already the second largest budget item in most states, would not appear viable. …

Trading Places: Real Choice Systems Change Grants And The Movement To Community-Based Long-Term Care Supports, Cynthia Shirk

National Health Policy Forum

The Real Choice Systems Change grant program was created to help states transform their long-term care service systems from ones that rely on institutions to ones that are more community-based. The grants are intended to help states develop the infrastructure needed for seniors and individuals with disabilities to live in integrated community settings. This issue brief provides information about Systems Change grants and the kinds of activities state Medicaid agencies have undertaken to transform their institutionally based systems. In addition, this paper reports on some of the qualitative and quantitative responses to the changes. This brief also raises critical policy …