ESHPI

2024 AT-A-GLANCE

As we reflect on another busy and successful year, we are pleased to share our special edition 2024 Year-in-Review newsletter with the ESHPI community. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to each of you for your invaluable contributions to ESHPI over the past year. Your dedication and expertise are essential in driving the work of our community of state health policymakers and researchers. As we look ahead to 2025, we are optimistic about the continued spirit of innovation and collaboration that will propel us forward. Together, we will keep advancing meaningful evidence generation and dissemination to improve health outcomes. (Let’s try to have fun while we do it too.)  
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- Susan, Amanda, Annaliese, Caroline, Zoe, Aiyah, and Maddie

10th Anniversary for SUPLN

This year, SUPLN celebrated its tenth anniversary, and over the past decade, as reflected in this blog series under SUPLN publications below, the State-University Partnership Learning Network has solidified its reputation as a convener for state-based public university researchers, practitioners, and Medicaid policymakers to tackle the Medicaid system’s challenges. In 2025, SUPLN looks forward to helping states navigate the ever-changing health care environment and furthering evidence use in these endeavors.

MMDN Spring Meeting

The MMDN hosted its annual meeting with Medicaid Medical Director attendees in Seattle, Washington, on May 1-2. This was MMDN’s largest conference yet. With representation from clinical leaders in twenty-eight states, attendees discussed improving quality measurement, HSR’s impact on policy, the implications of AI and Medicaid, emergency preparedness, and informing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) evidence generation pipeline.  

Joint MMDN-CSLPN Collaboration Call on the Medicaid and Public Health Priorities

The MMDN hosted its November Open Mic Call in collaboration with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials’ (ASTHO) Clinical Service Leaders Peer Network (CSLPN). During this call, public health Medical Directors and Medicaid Medical Directors discussed joint Medicaid and public health priorities including maternal health, vaccinations, leads screenings, and more. The MMDN and CSLPN look forward to further Medicaid and public health collaborative efforts in 2025.

Project EPIC Meeting

AcademyHealth, in collaboration with the National Perinatal Association (NPA), hosted the “Amplifying Maternal Health Voices in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research to Improve Perinatal Mental Health” preconference to the annual NPA conference in Anaheim, California on May 14. PCORI-funded researchers, Medicaid Medical Directors, and patient advocates convened to discuss perinatal topics of interest, including telehealth, respectful maternity care, and group therapy efforts to reduce postpartum depression.

The 2024 SUPLN Annual Fall Meeting

SUPLN celebrated its 10th anniversary at their annual meeting along with a networking reception filled with comradery, acknowledgement, and renewed focus on the importance of Medicaid research. SUPLN convened in person for their traditional 1.5-day meeting on November 21-22 at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in Washington, DC. The agenda included presentations from fellow members on relevant state-university partner-led research as well as panels on emerging research topics. Presentations focused on PHE unwinding, 1115 waiver efforts, maternal health in Medicaid, the implications of AI in HSR, and climate change.

The 2024 MODRN Annual Meeting

Representatives from our Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN) met just prior to the SUPLN Annual Meeting, to discuss ongoing research projects and future opportunities for the network.  

NETWORKS, PUBLICATIONS, AND PROJECTS

Thank you to our ESHPI Networks’ 2024 leadership.

ESHPI Networks' 2024 Leadership

SUPLN Steering Committee

  • Alice Middleton, JD, Chair, The Hilltop Institute (MD)
  • Tamara Keeney, MPA, Vice Chair, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (CO)
  • Thomas Bias, PhD, Health Affairs Institute, West Virginia University (WV)
  • Katie Commey, MPH, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MI)
  • Jatin Dave, MD, MPH, MassHealth (MA)
  • Lindsey Hammerslag, PhD, University of Kentucky (KY)
  • Hyunjee Kim, PhD, Oregon Health & Science University (OR)
  • Sherry Nykiel, MD, Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance (DE)
  • Cynthia Parsons, MA, West Virginia Medicaid (WV)
  • Kosali Simon, PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (IN)

MMDN Steering Committee

  • Christopher Chen, MD, MBA, Chair·, Washington State Health Care Authority (WA)
  • Douglas Fish, MD, Vice Chair, New York State Department of Health (NY)
  • Alanna Dancis, DNP, New Mexico Health Care Authority (NM)
  • Clara Filice, MD, MPH, MHS, MassHealth (MA)
  • Jeff Huebner, MD, FAAFP, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WI)
  • Paul Johnson, MD, MPH, Wyoming Medicaid (WY)
  • Ariel Smits, MD, MPH, Oregon Health Authority (OR)

MODRN Steering Committee  

  • Jeff Schiff, MD, MBA, Chair, AcademyHealth (DC)
  • Kelley Beloff, MBA, MSW, Ohio Department of Medicaid (OH)
  • Alyssa Brown, JD, Maryland Medicaid (MD)
  • Katherine Commey, MPH, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MI)
  • Jatin Dave, MD, MPH, MassHealth (MA)
  • Ashley Harrell, MSW, Department of Medical Assistance Services (VA)
  • Hyla Harvey, MD, West Virginia Medicaid (WV)
  • Kathryn Horneffer, MPH, North Carolina Department of Health Benefits (NC)
  • Jeff Huebner, MD, FAAFP, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WI)
  • David Jorgenson, MS, MaineCare (ME)
  • Dave Kelley, MD, MPA, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA)
  • Tess Koenigsmark, MPP, North Carolina Department of Health Benefits (NC)
  • Meredith Lawler, Maryland Medicaid (MD)
  • Cooper Lloyd, MD, MPH, TennCare (TN)
  • Jason Lowe, MSW, Department of Medical Assistance Services (VA)
  • Sherry Nykiel, MD, Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance (DE)
  • Cynthia Parsons, MA, West Virginia Medicaid (WV)
  • Judy Theriot, MD, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (KY)
  • Patricia Witherspoon, MD, South Carolina Medicaid (SC)

MODRN Data  Coordinating Center,
University of Pittsburgh  

  • Julie Donohue, PhD, Lead
  • Chung Cho (Joyce) Chang, PhD
  • Stefanie Junker
  • Joo Yeon Kim, MPH
  • Christine McClure, EdD, MPPM, MBA
  • Michael Sharbaugh, MPH
  • Lu Tang, PhD

Administrative Coordinating Center, AcademyHealth

  • Susan Kennedy, MSW, MPP, Lead
  • Zoe D’Angelo
  • Caroline Hale
  • Annaliese Johnson, MPP

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ESHPI NETWORKS EXPERIENCED RECORD ENGAGEMENT

  • Between the MMDN, SUPLN, and MODRN, we now have existing relationships and an active connection with 49 states.
  • MMDN welcomed two new states this year, Mississippi, and Missouri, and the District of Columbia.
  • SUPLN welcomed two new states this year (Arizona and Connecticut) and continues to receive interest from additional states.
  • MODRN welcomed Indiana this year and more fully incorporated our recent addition, South Carolina, through Project DREAM (see below).
  • We held twelve MMDN Open Mic calls on a variety of clinical topics, including Medicaid Graduate Medical Education (GME), Hospital at Home, Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatments (EPSDTs), outpatient antibiotic stewardship, the primary care system, and more.
  • MMDN members also collectively sent over 700 listserv messages in the calendar year!

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2024 ESHPI PUBLICATIONS

SUPLN

MODRN

MMDN

Looking Ahead...

Projects we will be continuing to work on

VISER Network

The Vaccine Information Sharing and Education Resource (VISER) Network, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is a collaborative effort between AcademyHealth, the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM), and theNational Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP) to provide immunization leaders with resources and promising practices for improving immunization rates for vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases across the lifespan. In 2025, the VISER team will welcome a new cohort of states to support with technical assistance.

Project EPIC

Project EPIC is a collaborative effort between the Medicaid Medical Director Network (MMDN) and the National Perinatal Association (NPA) to work with the maternal health community (providers, practitioners, and family advocates) to effectively inform delivery system transformation, programmatic changes, and quality and clinical improvement. The Project EPIC team will continue to disseminate PCORI-funded perinatal research to the broader public to improve maternal health outcomes through evidence-based practices.

MODRN EQUIP

MODRN-EQUIP, funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative and led by multi-principal investigators (MPIs) Drs. Julie Donohue and Andrew Barnes, is comprised of three projects with focuses on provider-level opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment quality measures, patient-reported outcomes of OUD treatment, and an OUD treatment quality improvement intervention. ESHPI spearheads MODRN-EQUIP’s Administrative Coordinating Center and Engagement Core, coordinating with key stakeholders including individuals with lived experience, OUD treatment providers, Medicaid Medical Directors, Single State Agency staff, Chief Medical Officers for Managed Care Organizations, and researchers to assist with the project aims of developing and describing provider OUD treatment quality measures that promote equity. In 2024, the MODRN-EQUIP Engagement Core held the inaugural MODRN-EQUIP Advisory Committee meeting and gleaned feedback from various stakeholder groups on provider-level quality measures via listening sessions and a digital prioritization survey activity. Engagement activities associated with all three MODRN-EQUIP projects will continue in 2025.

Project DREAM

With funding support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), ESHPI and the University of Pittsburgh have brought together six Medicaid programs, their university research partners, eight doula programs, and Medicaid enrollees for a first-of-its-kind, five-year project leveraging an innovative distributed research network to advance racial equity in severe maternal morbidity. Through this project, researchers hope to identify the most effective ways that state Medicaid programs can implement doula care to improve postpartum health among Black people and people of color. In Project DREAM’s first year, we

  • Published a protocol paper in Health Research Policy and Systems, identifying two engaging paper topics from the severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMM) workgroup, and beginning recruitment for our first cohort of Medicaid enrollee participants (300 total intended).
  • Conducted first round of doula focus groups – capturing experiences among 58 of 60 doulas
  • Published our protocol paper, with our co-authors, in Health Research Policy and Systems
  • Completed first draft of implementation matrix capturing variation in participating states doula benefit implementation
  • Began recruitment for the first 300 Medicaid enrollee cohort of focus groups among the participating states
  • Developed the SMM algorithm, which has been shared with participating states; currently collecting aggregate results

In 2025, we look forward to continued engagement with our many project collaborative partners including our doula organization partners, university research partners, community engagement facilitators from GrayHall, and our Advisory Committee, who providea deep bench of expertise and knowledge. We will also finalize the qualitative analysis from the first doula cohort’s data and hold focus groups with our first Medicaid enrollee cohort.

Medicaid Data Learning Network

As our T-MSIS Analytic File (TAF)- focused learning network entered its third year, we saw even more interest from researchers looking to collaborate and share their experiences in working with this data, expanding our membership to over 300 members across 65 research groups and organizations. The MDLN will continue to support peer-to-peer learning and dialogue among research teams, including rollout of a checklist to assist new users when working with the data, and educating the broader HSR community and other stakeholders to ensure the TAF data used in Medicaid research is high quality, timely, and impactful.

Dissemination with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center

In 2024, AcademyHealth worked with the UNC at Chapel Hill Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (UNC-BHWRC) to highlight and disseminate four of their Year 1 projects focused on addressing national-level planning and policy-relevant research questions related to the behavioral health workforce. These projects address the strategic aims of both the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)- to target funding toward programs and training that improve access to, supply of, distribution, diversity, and quality of behavioral health workforce -  and the Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration (SAMHSA) - to strengthen and improve the behavioral health workforce to better serve the behavioral health needs of individuals, communities, and service providers. We look forward to continuing to partner with the team at UNC-BHWRC in 2025 as we disseminate and spotlight their exciting Year 2 research projects.