Improving public well-being through integrated data, technology, and evidence

Across government and other sectors, secure, interoperable data systems enable organizations to turn high-quality information into practical insights. Yet achieving this vision often requires trusted partners with deep technical and domain expertise. Mathematica’s data solutions help clients modernize platforms, strengthen governance, and responsibly use analytics and AI in ways that support real-world decision making. Across this work, Mathematica brings together core capabilities—secure, interoperable data platforms; AI-enabled analytics; human-centered system design; and strong governance, privacy, and responsible-AI practices—to magnify impact and support faster, smarter decisions.

At the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Mathematica is supporting efforts to upgrade grant performance management systems. This includes enhancing the Office of Population Affairs’ Family-Planning Annual Report 2.0 data system and Family-Planning Clinic Locator Database. Our work focuses on secure, human-centered enhancements that ease reporting burden while strengthening governance-ready, data-driven insights and intuitive dashboards for program oversight and improvement.

Through new work for the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Community Services, Mathematica will enhance and operate the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Outcomes for Managing Performance Analysis System (COMPAS). COMPAS is a secure, interoperable data warehouse that enables federal, state, Tribal, and local partners to use analytics to assess CSBG data, identify trends, and make data-informed decisions.

To support a more integrated and accessible federal data ecosystem, in 2026 Mathematica will help redesign and maintain the federal Standard Application Process Online Portal, strengthening a central gateway for researchers seeking access to confidential federal data. This work will modernize the platform through human-centered system design and strong privacy and governance controls, creating a more scalable, user-friendly, and integrated application and review process.

Additional data systems work includes maintaining and enhancing the Overdose Response Strategy Team Reporting System for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, supporting secure, analytics-enabled performance reporting for federal efforts to prevent overdose.

Analytics help turn data into operational improvement—and into faster decisions, lower administrative burden, and better service delivery. This year, Mathematica will continue to focus on speed to value, helping clients translate complex data into action that strengthens oversight and improves outcomes for people and communities.

Mathematica and its partner James Bell Associates will lead the Home-Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review for the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within HHS’s Administration for Children and Families. This work provides an ongoing assessment of early childhood home-visiting research, enabling federal leaders to invest in approaches most likely to improve outcomes for families and children.

Mathematica’s work will also continue for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Bureau of Primary Health Care in the Health Resources and Services Administration. For these federal programs, we are using advanced geospatial analytics to understand how where people live affects their health and access to essential services. By analyzing travel distances, service availability, and neighborhood conditions, we help agencies identify gaps, define access standards, and strengthen support for communities.

For the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Mathematica will continue supporting national Medicaid and Medicare priorities to strengthen data quality—improving oversight, modernizing quality measurement, and advancing access to care nationwide. We will:

• Develop analyses to assess, monitor, and improve the completeness and accuracy of encounter data submitted by or on behalf of Medicare Advantage organizations and Medicare–Medicaid plans, supporting more reliable oversight and faster identification of data issues.
• Provide programmatic evaluation, technical assistance, and administrative support to CMS and grantees participating in the Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements Program, improving operations and expanding coverage for eligible children.
• Maintain and support quality measures, provide analytic services, and offer subject matter expertise to our partner General Dynamics Information Technology in the areas of electronic clinical quality measures and digital quality measures, supporting consistent, aligned measurement with less administrative friction.
• Lead the end-to-end production of the Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) Scorecard. This includes modernizing workflows and analytics by coordinating CMS and Medicaid.gov partners, maintaining production timelines, advising on critical path decisions, and translating complex requirements into validated content and visualizations—enabling clearer performance insight and more timely decision making.

At the state level, Mathematica will help California’s Department of Health Care Services develop a comprehensive value strategy for Medi-Cal skilled nursing facilities. This strategy will inform the reauthorization of the Medi-Cal Long-Term Care Reimbursement Act, supporting better care for beneficiaries. In Illinois, Mathematica will provide analytics and technical assistance to support compliance with Olmstead consent decrees, helping the state improve oversight and transition Medicaid-enrolled adults from institutions to community-based care. And working with the Washington/Baltimore High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area, Mathematica is using advanced predictive analytics to anticipate overdose surges before they escalate and improve the reliability of early warning alerts.

Globally, Mathematica is partnering with the Gates Foundation’s Global Growth and Opportunity Division to design and implement division- and team-level measurement, learning, and evaluation, including the development of a shared theory of action to support alignment, implementation, and learning across portfolios.

Additional analytics work for 2026 includes (1) advanced microsimulation and data products to support oversight of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and (2) analytics and technical assistance to support rural healthcare payment reform and sustainability, helping providers and states make more informed, data-driven decisions.

Decision makers need evidence that is directly applicable to policy and practice. Mathematica’s research and evaluation work will continue to meet this demand by delivering rapid, policy-relevant evidence supported by modern analytics and data integration.

CMS’ Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model tests using enhanced technologies along with human clinical review for prior authorization of select services in Original Medicare. Mathematica is conducting a mixed‑methods evaluation of the model to determine whether the model ensures appropriate care for people with Medicare, reduces Medicare spending, and lessens administrative burden on providers and suppliers. We will also continue supporting research, evaluation, and technical assistance for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families pilot programs, building on earlier phases to deepen impact and inform federal and state policy decisions.

In education, Mathematica will lead evaluations supporting providers of high-quality instructional materials, specifically those seeking Every Student Success Act Tier II+ evidence status for their curricula. We will also continue providing digital modernization and evidence support for the Institute of Education Sciences’ What Works Clearinghouse.

Globally, for the Gates Foundation, Mathematica will evaluate the sustainability of irrigation practices among smallholder farmers and evaluate a program designed to expand access to contraceptives. For the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we will continue to evaluate the Transmission Project within the Senegal Power Compact, which seeks to increase the reliability of Senegal’s high-voltage transmission network to catalyze private-sector investment, foster business growth, and support broader economic diversification. We will assess how this project was implemented, whether it met its objectives, and the reasons underlying observed outcomes.

Additional work will involve evaluating behavioral health and workforce initiatives, including:

• Serving as the national evaluation partner for the AIDS Education and Training Center Program network.
• Conducting a systems-change evaluation of the Fair Chance to Advance initiative to generate evidence on how state-level strategies foster coordination across justice, workforce, and education systems and to identify promising practices that expand pathways to fair-chance employment.
• Conducting an implementation and outcomes evaluation of approaches to identifying behavioral health calls in 911 call centers and strategies to improve interoperability between 911 and 988 crisis centers.