This project is funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Research in Transforming Health and Health Care Systems” program, which seeks to build the evidence base on the potential effects of policies or policy changes intended to transform health and health care systems. The goal of the project is to provide foundational evidence for the development of best practice models of multisector collaboration that address unmet social needs and improve health outcomes for Medicaid enrollees. The research team will use the Process Framework for Public Health Collaboratives (PHC) to guide their research strategy as they apply a mixed methods approach to examine the development, evolution and impact of partnerships between Kentucky managed care organizations (MCOs) and local community-based organizations (CBOs). They will: (1) examine how MCOs and CBOs are engaging to address enrollee unmet social needs; (2) collect and analyze network data in three selected Kentucky communities to understand the structure of MCO-CBO relationships and assess CBO and enrollee perceptions and experiences using focus groups; and (3) develop preliminary evidence for the impact of Medicaid MCO-CBO partnerships on enrollee health outcomes. Deliverables will include a project work plan and annual and final narrative and financial reports. The grantee will also produce paper(s) suitable for publication and present findings at national research meetings and to other stakeholder audiences as appropriate, including policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels, as part of the deliverables for this grant.

Principal Investigator(s)

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Researcher

Rachel Hogg-Graham, Dr.P.H., M.A.

Assistant Professor - Department of Health and Clinical Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences

Dr. Rachel Hogg-Graham is an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Clinical Sciences at the Univ... Read Bio

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Researcher

Teresa Meyer Waters, Ph.D., B.A.

Charles T. Wethington Jr. Endowed Chair - Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health

Dr. Teresa Waters holds the Charles T. Wethington Jr. Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences and currently serve... Read Bio

Publications

Publication

COVID-19 and MCO-Community Partnerships to Address Enrollee Social Needs

Researchers examined how partnerships between Medicaid Medicaid managed care organizations and community-based organizations to address social determinants of health have been affected by the pandemic. Several themes emerged, including substantial increases in enrollees’ unmet needs and the demand to find new ways to be responsive, changing funding patterns, disruptions to and evolving modes of communication, and shifting partner relationships. In virtually all areas of impact, COVID-19 has been associated with both negative and positive change.
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