Mathematica experts will join other attendees at the National Academy for State Health Policy’s 35th annual conference on September 12–14, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. The conference is an important opportunity for state health policymakers to discuss pressing issues and share innovative solutions. Mathematica researchers will share insights from our partnerships to develop the analytic tools, measures, and policy strategies states require to improve health care, address health inequities, and deal with the increasing impact of climate change.
“States are working to improve health care quality, control costs, and ensure equitable outcomes at a time when data and technology innovations are opening up new opportunities to enhance our understanding of how to make progress,” said Bailey Orshan, Mathematica principal researcher and state health area director. “Across a number of projects, we’re partnering with states to empower them to make data-driven decisions that lead to meaningful results.”
Mathematica applies its expertise in data management, analysis, and visualizations with deep knowledge of state, federal, and health care system policies and programs to produce insights that improve health care quality, delivery, and financing. The following are some examples of how Mathematica has partnered with states to make progress.
- Health care costs and quality. Mathematica has helped states tackle growing health care costs by harnessing data to visualize insights about costs and quality through dashboards such as the National Academy for State Health Policy’s Hospital Cost Tool and the Employer’s Forum of Indiana’s Sage Transparency. It also worked with the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Gates Ventures to assess the influence of Massachusetts’ accountability mechanisms on payers’ and providers’ cost control actions and draw lessons for other states that have developed similar cost growth target initiatives.
- Payment reform. Mathematica worked closely with states to tackle payment reform with multipayer participation, including assisting Pennsylvania with the implementation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center’s Rural Health Model. There, it created new payment methods to improve hospital sustainability and access in rural areas, collected data from commercial payors and hospitals, and produced financial metrics to administer the new model.
- Long-term services and supports. In North Carolina, Mathematica applied its data and policy expertise to develop and implement a data-driven system that ensures quality and improves performance for the state’s Transitions to Community Living initiative to better integrate people with disabilities into the community.
- Equity and climate change. Mathematica is committed to working with its partners to advance health equity and address the disparate impacts of climate change. This includes Mathematica’s development of an interactive tool called ClimaWATCH that allows users to explore how the growing exposure to heat waves affects health service use and spending and magnifies inequity.
Visit us in the exhibit hall to learn how we can help states make the most of their data and create new solutions that can enable their health agencies to transform health care.