This analysis documents price variations across the state and suggests a process and methodology that the Vermont Green Mountain Care Board could use to set standard rates. The report determined that inpatient prices among Vermont's 14 hospitals and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire vary from 71 to 130 percent of the state average.
Our Work

Many primary care practices wish to become patient-centered medical homes, but the transformation process can be daunting. Here, three experts offer some professional advice.
An email subject line can be a powerful first impression of an online survey.
This post offers ideas for creating subject lines that maximize email open rates and survey completion rates.
This article discusses the economic impacts of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and was based upon a presentation given by the authors in January 2014 at the Boston University School of Law symposium, "Improved Health at a Reduced Cost? Economic Perspectives on the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act."
This article highlights a buprenorphine dose-based prior authorization policy developed by MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, in consultation with UMass Medical School. The policy may be a model for other states that are concerned about diversion of buprenorphine among individuals with opioid dependence.
This presentation details the impact of state Medicaid programs placing lifetime limits on buprenorphine therapy for individuals with opioid dependence. The research reveals that setting limits does not save money or help the patient.
This presentation describes Medicaid & CHIP requirements to report performance indicators, describes the marketplace federal reporting requirements, describes and analyze initial results from the reporting requirements, and reviews the future of federal reporting for Medicaid & CHIP.
It is widely recognized that companies that embrace diversity and inclusion have a competitive advantage when recruiting employees and winning the loyalty of customers. This article explores how increasing the presence of disabled workers in the work force could have the same effect.
Presentation of study that found women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) comprise fewer than 1% of deliveries in the United States, but they and their infants are at significantly elevated risk of adverse outcomes.
This article examines the impact of a 2-year stepwise initiative to reduce utilization and therapy costs of long-acting opioid analgesics by addressing issues of high dose, daily dose, and preferred therapeutic alternatives. The study demonstrated that a state Medicaid program initiative can result in a significant decrease in opioid class utilization specifically for the targeted, more costly agents.
In 2012, the evaluation team at UMass Medical School, in collaboration with Vermont, revised the Choices for Care (CFC) evaluation plan to focus on specific outcomes for which data are available and that are actionable, have policy relevance, and encompass the continuum of settings.
This report summarizes findings from the patient experience survey taken by parents of children enrolled in primary care practices participating in the Medical Home Learning Collaborative. Parents were surveyed at the beginning, middle, and end of the collaborative.
A presentation exploring how health reform will impact access to interpreters for individuals with Limited English Proficiency and individuals who are deaf.
UPDATED chart pack, including summary data on MassHealth enrollment and spending. Designed to support use of the charts in presentations. Updated edition includes MassHealth enrollment as of December 31, 2013 and spending from FY 2013.
This report summarizes findings from the 2012 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS) commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Presentation on implementing integrated clinical care management in the patient-centered medical home.
This presentation provides an overview of the innovative approaches and lessons learned from the Massachusetts Personal and Home Care Aide State Training (PHCAST) grant, a project managed by UMass Medical School for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. PHCAST defined core competencies for direct care workers, and developed a standardized training in those competencies.
The Massachusetts Medicaid agency needed to assess parent satisfaction with their children’s health care as part of a five-year federally funded Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act Quality Demonstration grant. UMass Medical School provided the expertise they needed.
Implementing the ACA's health insurance mandate will require states to reach, educate, and successfully enroll individuals and families who have had little experience with health coverage. As states prepare to enroll millions of low-income uninsured Americans, the experience of Community Health Workers in Massachusetts can inform efforts across the country.
Our survey research team worked with six Connecticut health foundations to create a survey that delivered what was called a “rich source of self-reported data on the health and health care of Connecticut residents, including health insurance coverage, access and sources of care, continuity of care, health status and patient-provider experience.”
An assessment of the health needs of people with disabilities on behalf of the Health and Disability Program within the Massachusetts Department of Public Health provides comprehensive information on the unmet public health needs and priorities of the disability community.