Health Policy & Population Health Research

Small Child

OHSU's Department of Family Medicine studies access to health care, disparities in care, and how changes in health policy impact population health, using electronic health records (EHR), insurance claims, and state databases. Several projects study primary care utilization by uninsured and underinsured populations, particularly relating to the Affordable Care Act. Research findings inform community, practice and policy interventions that improve the delivery of care for vulnerable populations and reduce health disparities.

Assessing a Medicaid Randomized Insurance Experiment within Community Clinics (CARDIAC)

Principal Investigator: Jen DeVoe, MD, DPhil
Our goal is to test the hypothesis that gaining public insurance coverage is associated with higher rates of receipt of CVD primary and secondary preventive care among individuals with a usual and continuous source of primary care. The project will also demonstrate the value of using a unique safety net clinic EHR database in research to evaluate the impact of practice and policy interventions on vulnerable populations, with potential for widespread replication.

Evaluating Community Health Centers' Adoption of a New Global Capitation Payment (eCHANGE)

Principal Investigator: Jen DeVoe, MD, DPhil
The project seeks to (i) incentivize providing value over volume of visits, (ii) support comprehensive treatment modalities for patients with complex needs, and (iii) allow CHCs to focus more of their resources on population health initiatives.

The Primary Care Medical Home & Preventive Service Use in Latino Immigrants

Principal Investigator: John Heintzman, MD, MPH
This project studies how certain features of the Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) impact the utilization of recommended preventive health services by Latino Immigrants. The study expands on existing PCMH research, and uses the OCHIN Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to evaluate the association between certain PCMH principles and preventive service use in Latino immigrants.

Post Affordable Care Act Evaluation of Community Health Centers (PACE)

Principal Investigator: Jen DeVoe, MD, DPhil
The project is one of the first to examine changes in access to and receipt of healthcare services and to Medicaid expenditures following ACA Medicaid expansions among a large population of safety net clinic patients. This project builds on our previous work that developed a robust community-based research infrastructure within the OCHIN community health information network of community health centers. The project capitalizes on our unique partnership with OCHIN and our experience conducting health services research and assessing natural policy experiments.

Post ACA Reform: EValuation of community hEalth ceNTer care of Diabetes (PREVENT-D)

Principal Investigator: Jen DeVoe, MD, DPhil
This project will foster an understanding of how Medicaid expansion impacts Diabetes Memellitus (DM) prevention, treatment, expenditures, and health outcomes. Detailed information on changes in health insurance, service receipt, and health outcomes, with data spanning 9 years (pre- and post-expansion), are collected that compare states that expanded Medicaid, and those that did not.

Transformation Center Evaluation

Principal Investigator: Deb Cohen, PhD
This OHA study conducts qualitative research to generate formative, iterative, rapid feedback on the performance of the Transformation Center and its progress in supporting and spreading health system transformation in Oregon.

Understanding Disparities in Preventive Services for Patients with Mental Illness

Principal Investigator: John Muench, MD
This mixed methods study is designed to foster understanding of such disparities by examining preventive services provided to people in two systems of care—one a large integrated health plan, and the second, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) participating in a common health information network. The goal is to identify modifiable factors that affect preventive service uptake among individuals with serious mental illnesses.