An evaluation of the utilization of two pre-exposure prophylaxis therapies, emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Truvada®) and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (Descovy®), among a MassHealth population.
Our Work
Presentation
April 13, 2021
At the recent Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health Conference, our experts presented preliminary results of the MassHealth Behavioral Health for Justice-involved Individuals Initiative (BH-JI), a sustainable model for engaging justice involved individuals with mental health and addiction needs.
Webinar
February 22, 2021
New drugs are coming to market faster than ever. For many patients, new pharmaceutical therapies represent the potential for life-changing impact. Yet uncertain uptake of these often high-cost specialty drugs poses a significant risk for pharmacy budgets. To protect you from surprises, Commonwealth Medicine pharmacists and data analysts provide expert Budget Impact Forecasting.
Case Study
January 25, 2021
The FQHC network was dissatisfied with the results provided by a survey vendor, both in terms of response rates and the presentation of results. The network contracted with Commonwealth Medicine to administer its annual patient experience surveys starting in 2018.
Case Study
January 22, 2021
Research shows a connection between oral health and overall wellness. To improve access to oral health care, more than 78 percent of Massachusetts Community Health Centers (CHCs) offer direct dental services at approximately 58 state-wide locations. Adequate staffing and expertise are critical to providing care. However, little is known about the recruitment and retention of the vitally important dental workforce. Commonwealth Medicine designed and implemented a survey in 2018 to understand the motivators and barriers that influence the recruitment and retention of the dental workforce at CHCs.
Journal Article
December 28, 2020
Providing at-risk populations with access to permanent housing also improves their access to medical and mental health services while reducing overall health care costs. That is among the key findings in this report by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts, prepared in part by Research & Evaluation experts at Commonwealth Medicine.
Presentation
December 15, 2020
Commonwealth Medicine's newborn screening experts have developed an algorithm that can be used to tell when a newborn's genotype may need to be retested. Learn more about this formula, which can determine when alleleic dropout has occurred, and find out why this practice could be vital for newborn screening programs across the country in this presentation.
Technical Report
December 02, 2020
A pilot project in Worcester focused on reducing racial inequities and better-supporting children in early education settings who have experienced trauma shows significant results, suggesting a new model that could be adopted in early education settings across the state and country.
Presentation
November 19, 2020
In this presentation, Stephanie Tran, PharmD, clinical consultant pharmacist, explains how a retrospective compounding monitoring program demonstrated a reduction in per member per year spend through the placement of select high-cost compounding ingredients on prior authorization.
Issue Brief
November 16, 2020
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an advanced form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that is estimated to affect 5 - 21 million people in the United States. In this report, Pavel Lavitas, PharmD, BCPS, discusses findings from the Clinical Pharmacy Services pipeline monitoring team which was observing the results of a trail for a new treatment for the disease.
Technical Report
November 09, 2020
Director of Child and Family Policy Audrey Smolkin discusses interventions to promote children's resilience to minimize the long-term effects of trauma.
Journal Article
September 29, 2020
The federal “public charge” rule is causing many non-citizens to avoid treatment for potentially serious health issues—including COVID-19. This report, co-authored by CWM Health Law and Policy experts, examines the rule’s impact on non-citizens and the Mass. health care system.
Poster
September 22, 2020
Karen Clements, senior project director, Research and Evaluation, co-authored this poster on providing Medicaid populations with access to advanced hep C treatments which was nominated for best poster at the recent Academy Health 2020 Annual Research Meeting.
Poster
August 07, 2020
This poster by Judy Savageau, MPH, research consultant, informs MassHealth policies and programs for medical and behavioral health services with the goal of reducing opioid overdoses. Savageau presented her poster at the Academy Health 2020 Annual Research Meeting.
Journal Article
July 02, 2020
For children of color, early-life traumas increase the risk for long-term physical and mental health issues. Audrey Smolkin, director of Child and Family Policy at the UMass Med School, discusses the need for training on the link between race, trauma, and resilience.
White Paper
May 04, 2020
There are many systems and services that contribute to children’s health, development, and well-being. However, many of our health systems are complicated, difficult to use, and have strict eligibility requirements; and many health services exist in silos and are not well coordinated. As a result, access for families is difficult. Many children who are not given a chance to thrive and get a healthy start in life grow up to be unhealthy adults with chronic and costly health conditions.
White Paper
April 28, 2020
Reviewing applications for disability retirement benefits is a complex and time-sensitive process. Getting it right protects plan members and the financial soundness of the plan itself. Commonwealth Medicine empowers its team of licensed and credentialed case reviewers with secure, cloud-based technology to maintain operational continuity—even during a pandemic. The result is accurate, fair and timely disability recommendations.
Poster
April 27, 2020
A study, led by Soumya Vishwanath and other policy experts, from Commonwealth Medicine, assessed the effectiveness of a three-part, proactive intervention in prompting new prior authorization (PA) submissions and/or provider response prior to PA expiration in a Medicaid population.The intervention group had PAs submitted an average of 2.7 days before the expiration date vs.13 days after expiration in the comparison group.
Poster
April 22, 2020
Pharmacy experts from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Commonwealth Medicine completed a study on whether the overall benefit of sacubitril/valsartan outweighed the cost of the drug within a Medicaid population. Previous studies have shown that patients treated with sacubitril/valsartan had lower rates of hospitalizations, but before now, the data on the economic impact of the drug on a Medicaid population was limited.
White Paper
April 16, 2020
A policy brief co-authored by Commonwealth Medicine’s Robert Seifert, MPA, & Hilary Deignan, JD, MEd, and the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc's Lisa Honigfeld, PhD & Eminet Garganus, MPH explains why having all insurers involved in pediatric primary care redesign is vital for creating more positive health outcomes for children in families in communities at large
Technical Report
March 05, 2020
The Director of the Charitable Trusts Unit, within the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, is charged with reviewing transactions involving health care charitable trusts, including non-profit hospitals, to determine whether these transactions are in the best interest of the community. The Charitable Trusts Unit retained the Health Law & Policy team at Commonwealth Medicine, UMass Medical School, to perform a thorough, impartial review of the Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) proposed acquisition of Frisbie Memorial Hospital.