Class Photo on Capitol Hill © Laura Sikes Photography

The 21st Washington Health Policy Institute

Registration is now open! 

If you want a true insiders’ view of what health care policy is about, how it is made, and who makes it, you should not miss the Washington Health Policy Institute (WHPI).

Students have the unique experience to learn from top Health Policy professionals, visit Capitol Hill and their representatives, and gain graduate credits or continuing education credits at the 21st Washington Health Policy Institute.

Registration is open today

WHPI student network at the reception © Laura Sikes Photography

The 20th Washington Health Policy Institute was such a success last year. Students from all over the country collaborated, building both their personal and professional networks.

HAP 605 students watch Len M. Nichols' powerpoint while listening to the course lecture © Laura Sikes Photography

Click here for further information about the 21st Washington Health Policy Institute  About the Institute .

For common questions about the event click our FAQ page.

Dr. PJ Maddox of GMU and Dr. Veronica Feeg of Molloy College (our first WHPI cohort) take a moment to pose by the WHPI poster © Laura Sikes Photography

Please feel free to reach out to any of our event planners with other questions, comments, or inquiries at chpre@gmu.edu

The Department of Social Work presents : “Resilience and Advocacy: Applications to Social Work Policy and Practice” A Panel Discussion to Celebrate Social Work Month

Date: Wednesday March 27, 2013

Time: 1:30pm to 3:30pm

Location: Mason Hall Room D23 Edwin Meese III Conference Room, Fairfax Campus

Panelists: Nannette Bowler,- Fairfax County DFS, Hanna Kane — Employment Justice Center, Vicki Kirsch – George Mason University, James Thur – Virginia Wounded Warrior Program

This event is free and open to the public, please RSVP to vkhov@gmu.edu (703.993.2030)

.2 CEUs available for a fee of $20 payable during online registration or by check on the day of the event.

The School of Nursing Doctoral Student Organization Presents – The Interprofessional Health Science Forum – The Movement Towards Interprofessional Research by Patricia A. Grady, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director, National Insitute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health.

Date: April 29, 2013

Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Location: Mason Hall Meese Conference Room

Light Refreshments will be served RSVP to cspinel2@gmu.edu

Courtesy of Common Images

Mason Selected to Evaluate CareFirst Medical Home Program

Posted: March 10, 2013 at 5:00 am, Last Updated: March 12, 2013 at 12:03 pm

George Mason University is part of an elite group to evaluate CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield’s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program, one of the largest in the nation, CareFirst announced on March 11.

George Mason, along with a joint team from Harvard University, Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a team from Westat Research Corp., will study the PCMH program. Mason has a five-year, $5.4 million contract, says Len Nichols, principal investigator for the Mason team and director of Mason’s Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS).

How well a patient’s health improves while under a physician’s care, not how many services are given, is a benchmark for patient-centered programs, Nichols says. “The patient’s health is at the center of the focus as opposed to just services and tests for the patient,” he says.

Patient-centered care also means the patients themselves play an active part in their own health care, Nichols says. That’s critical because many patients with chronic conditions typically have two or more. For example, someone with heart disease may also be diabetic.

“You have to manage care for chronic patients very carefully,” Nichols says.

In addition, the patient-centered programs are a response to cost pressures and an effort to re-examine how care is delivered to patients, Nichols says. “I think it is a game-changer for our national conversation about how to contain costs,” he says.

CareFirst has more than 3,600 participating primary care physicians and nurse practitioners covering about one million CareFirst members in Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. CareFirst showed total health care costs for PCMH members in 2011 were 1.5 percent lower than expected. Nearly 60 percent of physician groups participating in 2011 earned incentives based on the attainment of savings and quality performance, according to CareFirst information. 

“The approach has great promise since it links physician incentives to higher quality care, better outcomes and lower costs,” Nichols says.

Mason’s evaluation is expected to show how well that promise is fulfilled. 

“Our PCMH program is a critical component of our efforts to reduce health care costs while improving health care quality,” said CareFirst President and CEO Chet Burrell in a statement announcing Mason’s selection as a PCMH evaluator. “The program has grown tremendously, and we are pleased with the early results that we have seen. In selecting these leading institutions and organizations to evaluate the program, we will get a thorough, independent look at every aspect of the program. We want to know what works well, what could work better, whether the program is truly changing the behavior of physicians and patients and much more.” 

Mason’s team includes three health economists, a professor of nursing, a physician and a consumer engagement expert who can detail what can help bring patients into the program.

A multidisciplinary team is essential to give the program a thorough examination, Nichols says. “You need multiple perspectives,” he says. “You need all hands on deck.”

In addition to Nichols, the Mason team members are:

• Gilbert Gimm, co-principal investigator, economist and associate professor in Mason’s Department of Health Administration and Policy (HAP) in CHHS.
• Alison Cuellar, economist and associate professor, HAP.
• Lorens Helmchen, economist and associate professor, HAP.
• Margaret Rodan, associate professor in Mason’s School of Nursing, CHHS.
• Jay Want, a physician and CEO of Colorado-based Physician Health Partners LLC and board chair of the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.
• Kalahn Taylor-Clark, a consumer engagement expert and director of health policy for the National Partnership for Women and Families.
• Alan Newman Research, Richmond-based health survey experts.

Dr. Todd Olmstead is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University where he conducts economic analyses and research in behavioral health. His current research projects include: (1) estimating the demand for illicit drugs, (2) cost-effectiveness of substance abuse interventions, (3) cost-effectiveness of early intervention programs for youth who are at risk of  future interactions with the mental health and/or juvenile justice systems, (4) cost-effectiveness of providing mental health services to low-income pregnant and parenting women living in public housing systems, and (5) the impacts of
gambling treatment on healthcare service utilization. Prior to joining Mason, Dr. Olmstead was a member of the faculties of the University of Connecticut and Yale University, and he was a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Business and Government. Dr. Olmstead holds degrees in public policy (Ph.D., Harvard University, 2000), operations research (M.S., UNC-Chapel Hill), and industrial engineering (M.S., B.S., SUNY-Buffalo).

Click here to view the full flyer.

This months speaker is the Director of Evaluations at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Please click here to view the flyer: Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records

Courtesy of Wiki - Images

States take practical path on exchanges

When the Affordable Care Act was debated in Congress, the House of Representatives wanted one federal exchange and as much federal control of state insurance markets as possible. The Senate wanted state insurance exchanges and state flexibility to tailor market rules to local market conditions.

You can read the complete Op-Ed article through this link States Take Practical Path on Exchanges.

http://www.c-span.org/Events/Physicians-and-Experts-Discuss-Medicare-Reform/10737437659/

On Tuesday January 29, 2013, Len M. Nichols spoke as part of a panel for the Policy Summit, hosted by the National Journal Live and held at the Newseum.

The purpose of the policy summit was to bring together “ leading thinkers in the healthcare space—including physicians, healthcare executives, congressional staff experts, and other key voices—as we analyzed and weighed the policy options available in overhauling the Medicare payment system.”

The event was covered by C-SPAN including a full video of the entire panel. Members of the panel included:

Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change; Len Nichols, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University; and Gail Wilensky, senior fellow at Project HOPE; participated in a panel, titled “Deep Thinkers.”

Dr. Thomas Claffey, president of InterMed; Dr. Edward G. Murphy, professor of medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine; and Dr. Grace Terrell, CEO of Cornerstone Health Care;  joined the “Physicians Panel.”

Juliette Cubanski, associate director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation; Jay Khosla, chief health counsel for the Senate Committee on Finance; Meghan McCarthy, policy analyst at McBee Strategic and former National Journal health writer; and Dana Safran, senior vice president of Performance Measurement and Improvement at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; particpated in the “Response Panel.”

Maggie Fox, senior health writer for NBCNews.com and Today.com, moderated.

Kaiser Health News reporter Ankita Rao was in attendance and published her piece “For Medicare Innovations – Think Locally” quoting CHPRE Director Len M. Nichols.

On February 6, 2013 at 12pm, CHPRE will host its first twitter chat featuring CHPRE Director Len M. Nichols. Our topic for this discussion is Health Reform Changes Facing Virginia in 2013. Please join us at 12pm on 2/6 using hashtag #CHPREGMU and following @LenMNichols.  Click here to view the flyer CHPRE Twitter Chat Flyer 2/6/13