The Center for Program Evaluation works with Medicaid and other public health programs to perform mixed-method, qualitative and quantitative research, and objective analysis of the effectiveness of their innovative care delivery models. The Center was created in response to an increasing need for independent program evaluation as more Medicaid programs introduce delivery system reforms. These models of care shift the paradigm for patients and often necessitate ongoing monitoring to ensure that beneficiaries are able to access the full range of healthcare services they require. Furthermore, the effect of health inequities on outcomes that was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic creates new avenues for qualitative and quantitative research.
The Center brings together the expertise of staff members who are skilled and experienced in:
- Mixed-method, qualitative and quantitative research
- Access and quality of care
- Social determinants of health
- Delivery system transformation
- Performance improvement
- Creating and leveraging data sharing tools to inform quality improvement
- Primary care/behavioral health care integration
- Maternity and newborn health
- Health equity
- Clinical innovation
- Medicaid policy
- Healthcare-associated infections
- Data-driven technical assistance
Recent Activities
Evaluating the Impact of Delivery System Reform
A patient-centered medical home initiative achieved gains in adult and pediatric health, but not in women’s health or emergency department use, according to a difference in differences analysis. The IPRO team’s qualitative analysis of practices’ systems and processes pointed to significant variation in barriers faced by practices as well as the extent to which they had implemented procedures to meet program requirements.
A state’s bundled payment-like incentive program is associated with small improvements in numerous adult health measures even while total spending decreased slightly, according to an IPRO evaluation. The state is using the findings to guide future policy direction.
Data Integration and Dashboards
IPRO built an interactive, online dashboard for one state to investigate the implementation and impact of their care management program. The dashboard combines previously unconnected data streams, enhances the usefulness of the data for decision making, and allows for real-time investigative analytics to be performed using live filters. The client is now investigating its own data, running and saving queries, and formulating program improvements. IPRO also provides clinical and data subject matter experts to assist with using the information. The interface supports better program development, streamlines decision making, and empowers its users by providing them with interactive and responsive data feeds.
IPRO built a Tableau dashboard displaying information related to patient characteristics and sepsis hospitalizations for patients with maternal sepsis. The interactive interface allowed the client to filter the data in real-time and identify disparities based on patient characteristics, including age, race, gender, chronic medical conditions, chronic mental health conditions as well as location of sepsis presentation and pregnancy state at sepsis presentation. This information may be used to inform targeted quality improvement efforts or further research to understand factors underlying disparities.
Learn More
The Center provides a full spectrum of customized evaluation services for existing and new clients. For additional information, email us at ProgramEval@ipro.org
