News & Bulletins Archive

Hilltop Policy Analyst Aaron Tripp, MSW, gave a presentation with IMPAQ International Senior Research Associate Cynthia H. Woodcock, MBA, at the 28th Annual National Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Conference in Arlington, VA, which took place September 10 through 13, 2012. This session, entitled Assessing Family Caregiver Needs: The New Frontier, included presentations from the AARP Public Policy Institute and the Family Caregiver Alliance. The presentation, entitled New Jersey Care Partner Support Pilot Program: Findings, discussed highlights of Hilltop’s evaluation of the Pilot Program, which was designed to improve the knowledge and skills of family caregivers for beneficiaries enrolled in waiver programs following a caregiver self-assessment. Implications for health care and social service professionals to better recognize and support families as partners in care and recommendations for further expansion of caregiver assessments were addressed.

Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael T. Abrams, MPH, explores the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the enhanced integration/coordination of substance use disorder (SUD) treatments into the publicly financed health care delivery system in a report entitled Coordination of Care for Persons with Substance Use Disorders under the Affordable Care Act: Opportunities and Challenges. Read the report. View the Bulletin. Contact Michael Abrams.

Hilltop Director of Special Studies Ian Stockwell, MA, was a panelist in an August 21, 2012, session at the Medicaid Enterprise Systems conference held August 19 through 23, 2012, in Boston, Massachusetts. In the session, titled Improving Health Outcomes through Coordinated Care Strategies, Stockwell discussed how Hilltop’s efficient Software as a Service (SaaS) model is improving Maryland’s performance monitoring capabilities, reducing providers’ administrative burden, and improving care coordination for recipients. To learn more, contact Ian Stockwell.

The Hilltop Institute is the co-recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant entitled Multiple-Impact Effectiveness of a State-Supported Employment Policy Initiative. The project will study the economic and health impacts of evidence-based supported-employment (SE) strategies for persons in Maryland Medicaid with serious mental illness (SMI). Such strategies were aggressively expanded in the mid- to late 2000s, the time frame of this investigation. The research effort will integrate data from several sources, including Maryland Medicaid and public mental health system claims, in order to evaluate the intensity of SE therapy received, as well as health and employment outcomes that appear to follow from that treatment. David Salkever, PhD, professor in UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, is the principal investigator on this work. Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael Abrams, MPH, will lead the Hilltop team for this project, which will also include Senior Programmer Jack Clark.

The Hilltop Institute is pleased to announce the success of its sixth invitational symposium, Information Follows the Person: Advancing LTSS Integrated Electronic Records, which convened on June 14, 2012. To learn more about the speakers, view the presentations, and see the agenda, click here. To view the bulletin, click here.

The Hilltop Health Care Reform Simulation Model, a financial modeling tool that projects the costs and savings to states as they implement the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is now available to states who want to use it to make these projections. To view the Bulletin about the model, click here.

Hilltop Interim Executive Director Michael A. Nolin, MA, was a panelist in a special session at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting on June 24, 2012, in Orlando, Florida. This special session, Building Research Collaborations with State Health Policymakers, used the states of California and Maryland as examples to address the benefits and challenges of state/university partnerships, as well as ways to structure them. The discussion revolved around a series of questions, which can be found here. Nolin discussed Hilltop’s nationally recognized eighteen-year partnership with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the catalyst for the development of the partnership, what it looks like today, its structure, and the benefits and challenges of such state/university partnerships. To view the slides, click here. To learn more about Maryland’s partnership, contact Mike Nolin.

Hilltop Interim Executive Director Michael A. Nolin, MA, made a presentation at the American Public Health Association’s midyear meeting on June 27, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The session, titled All in This Together – Public Health and Community Benefit, addressed the requirement for nonprofit hospitals to demonstrate their commitment to community health by conducting a community health needs assessment (CHNA) along with a strategy to address the identified needs to support their nonprofit tax status. In his presentation, Nolin gave an overview of the origins of the community benefit standard and discussed the standard in both a federal and state context; discussed the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) reporting requirements for nonprofit hospitals; discussed the CHNA requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and addressed state policy factors related to CHNAs. Finally, Nolin gave examples of how hospital associations might be responding to these requirements. To view the presentation, click here.

Hilltop Hospital Community Benefit Program Director Martha H. Somerville, JD, MPH, presented at the American Health Lawyers Association’s June 21, 2012, webinar titled Protecting Tax Exemption Under the ACA: Exploring New Requirements Related to Community Needs Assessments; Financial Assistance Policies; and Billing and Collection Policies and Procedures.  Somerville’s presentation, titled Community Benefit in Context: Evolution to ACA §9007, provided an overview of the origins and evolution of charitable tax exemption, the community benefit standard, and current tax exemption requirements for nonprofit hospitals. Other webinar presenters were Julie A. Trocchio, Senior Director of Community Benefit and Continuing Care at the Catholic Health Association, and Jessica Curtis, Esquire, Project Director of Community Catalyst’s Hospital Accountability Project. The session was moderated by Thomas Hyatt, Esquire, of SNR Denton. To view the presentation, click here. To read the supporting brief, click here.

Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael T. Abrams, MPH, is the first author and Hilltop Director of Health Services Policy and Research Cynthia Boddie-Willis, MD, MPH, is a co-author of an article titled Cervical Cancer Screening and Acute Care Visits Among Medicaid Enrollees With Mental and Substance Use Disorders that now is electronically available in pre-print version at the Psychiatric Services website. The article discusses the methodology and findings of a study that compared rates of cervical cancer screening and acute care (primary or gynecological) visits among women enrolled in Maryland’s Medicaid program in 2004-2005 with and without a diagnosis of psychosis, substance use disorder, bipolar disorder or mania, or depression. Researchers found that in Maryland Medicaid, the odds of cancer screening and related acute care visits were greater for women with major mental disorders compared with women in the control group. For women with substance use disorders, however, screening was reduced and acute care visits were similar compared with women in the control group. This work suggests that while women with serious mental disorders in Maryland Medicaid receive preventative somatic care on par with controls, those with substance use disorders (addictions) seem at higher risk for the absence of such care. To view the abstract and access the article, click here. For more information, contact Michael Abrams.

Hilltop Hospital Community Benefit Program Director Martha H. Somerville, JD, MPH, presented as part of a plenary town hall panel in a session titled Community Health Assessments: Opportunities for Collaboration at the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) Annual Conference of May 23, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In her presentation, Partnerships for Community Needs Assessment−Community Benefits & Health Department Accreditation, Somerville outlined community benefit requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and related reporting requirements (Internal Revenue Service Form 990, Schedule H). The discussion focused on the ACA’s community health needs assessment requirement, how  it can relate to public health department accreditation, and how Public Health Institutes can facilitate community partnerships of hospitals, health departments, and community-based organizations to conduct needs assessment and community health improvement planning, as well as develop initiatives to improve community health. To view the presentation, click here.

Hilltop Director of Special Studies Ian Stockwell, MA, gave a presentation at the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) meeting, entitled State Planning for a High Performance Health System For Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligibles and Implementing Innovations, which was held March 6 and 7, 2012 in Alexandria, Virginia. At the meeting, CHCS brought states together to focus on integrated care program development and improving the delivery of long-term services and supports (LTSS). In his presentation, Data vs. Dollars: The Interplay Between Analytical Methods and Rate Setting for Community Care, Stockwell discussed the use of predictive analytics and risk assessment to facilitate care in the community. In addition, he shared strategies for structuring reimbursement rates in a manner that encourages community-based care.

Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael Abrams, MPH, presented the findings of a study to elucidate coordination of care targets within Maryland’s Medicaid population of persons with substance use disorders. The presentation was made to Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Inc. (bSAS) leadership and their consultants on February 24th, 2012. BSAS, the public substance use authority in Baltimore City, is funding this work. The study uses a novel statistical technique – Latent Class Analysis (LCA) – to discern mutually exclusive and relatively homogenous subgroups of Medicaid enrollees with such disorders. This implementation of the LCA technique relies on Medicaid administrative data corresponding to demographic, enrollment category, utilization, state expenditure, and diagnostic information in order to identify 10 subgroups of persons with substance use disorders of various types. The results of this study will guide future work regarding the design of “medical homes” for such persons, with special focus on the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Abrams is the lead on this work, with substantial research and programming support by Policy Analyst Seung Ouk Kim, PhD, and Senior Programmer Jayne Miller, B.S. To view the full presentation with supporting tabulations and definitions, click here.

The Hilltop Institute’s Hospital Community Benefit Program has just released its third issue brief, entitled Hospital Community Benefits after the ACA: Partnerships for Community Health Improvement. The brief discusses a variety of options for collaboration in assessment, planning, priority setting, and implementation of health improvement initiatives; provides examples of diverse models already in place; and examines their impact on the communities in which they occur. To view the Bulletin, click here. To view the issue brief, click here.

The Hilltop Institute is pleased to announce that Martha H. Somerville, JD, MPH, is the new director of its Hospital Community Benefit Program. Somerville is a senior policy analyst at Hilltop and has devoted much of her time to the program since its inception in 2010. She is co-author of the program’s issue briefs and is actively involved in the program’s newsletter. To view the bulletin, click here.