AcademyHealth Stateside - July 2005 (Plain Text Version)In this issue: State Health Research and Policy Interest Group MeetingMore than 80 members of the State Health Research and Policy Interest Group met during an adjunct meeting to AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in Boston last month. The first session, From Knowledge to Action: Building Research and Evaluation Capacity in the Rhode Island Medicaid Program, highlighted how the state formed a Research and Evaluation Workgroup to build a research program component within their Medicaid program. The Workgroup is a successful collaboration between academic researchers and Medicaid program staff and program administrators. The centerpiece of this collaboration is the Medicaid Health Indicator System that tracks Medicaid enrollee health status over time and compares it against the privately insured. The indicator system has demonstrated a significant improvement of Medicaid enrollee health status and has the capacity to provide that information at the sub-population level. The research and evaluation capacity within Rhode Island has allowed the Medicaid program to:
The second session, Reading Between the Rankings, featured a panel from the state of Colorado. Representatives from the Colorado Health Institute explained how they were able to go beyond the aggregate data related to immunization rates when the issue became politicized and how they were able to strategically frame the information in a way that policymakers could craft an appropriate response. The research culminated in a white paper that was very well-received by policymakers, state officials, and stakeholders. The presentation illustrated the need for accurate yet “easy to read” research to bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers. The final session, Putting Research into Practice: A Discussion with Policymakers, focused on effective communication of research findings with policymakers and ways decision makers use information available from researchers. Participating in the panel were Amy Lischko, assistant commissioner for the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy; Abel Ortiz, policy adviser for Health and Human Services for Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue; and Lisa Rawlins, formerly a senior legislative analyst with the Florida House of Representatives and currently the bureau chief of the State Center for Health Statistics in the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. The panelists stressed the need for easy-to-consume issue briefs that succinctly and clearly set out the major points of debate and the evidence. Unbiased synthesis of available research was also highly prized. The Interest Group meeting also featured a lunchtime session with 34 posters highlighting state-level research focusing on data collection and analysis as well as numerous case studies on research translation. The Interest Group provides a forum for members to share information, disseminate research, learn about successful state case studies, network with peers, and learn more about selected topics. The purpose of the State Health Research and Policy Interest Group is to foster a dialogue between states and to inform decision making. For more information about this and other AcademyHealth Interest Groups, visit http://www.academyhealth.org/membership/interestgroups.htm. |