How the Massachusetts Medicaid Pharmacy Program, which is managed by UMass Medical School, developed the Pediatric Behavioral Health Medication Initiative. The initiative was in response to studies and reports that found pediatric behavioral health medication polypharmacy regimes have been increasing.

An assessesment of the impact of the MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, Children's Behavioral Health Initiative implemented in 2007. The initiative, requires behavioral health screening at well-child appointments, substantially increased the percentage of children receiving behavioral health screenings.

Integration strategies and coordination benchmarks within the Massachusetts Medicaid Management Information System (MMMIS) are used to ensure accurate Medicaid and Medicare enrollment; fully engage service delivery options (including managed care and integrated care programs); and effectively cost-avoid, reprice, or cost-share to ensure the state’s lowest payment liability.

This report describes the process of providing integrated care for patients with substance use disorders at three sites in central Massachusetts: Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Family Health Center of Worcester, and Community Healthlink. It identifies common practices that improve care coordination and presents key findings.

Twenty-five women with physical disabilities across the U.S. who had had a baby in the past 10 years were interviewed for this study. The results shed light on the unmet needs and barriers to the care of women with mobility disabilities during pregnancy and childbirth. The study findings highlight the need for policy and practice recommendations for perinatal care of women with mobility disabilities.

An overview and review of a Perioperative Surgical Home pilot developed using the guiding principles of the patient-centered medical home. The PSH coordinates care and decisions from the decision to operate through return to primary care.

A comprehensive look at The Southern New England Practice Transformation Network (SNE-PTN), which supports implementation of person-centered, high quality, efficient, and coordinated care. SNE-PTN is funded under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative.

The study concludes that antiviral treatment with sofosbuvir and/or simeprevir was requested for a relatively small proportion of Hepatitis C-infected members of MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, with nearly all approved. Prescriber prioritization or patient barriers to care, rather than prior authorization, determined access to treatment. Support may be needed to ensure patients with SUD benefit from advances in HCV treatment.

An overview of the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health's 9th Annual Academic & Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health in CorrDocs, the newsletter of the American College of Correctional Physicians. The conference is supported by the University of Massachusetts Medical School and co-hosted this year by George Mason University.