WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 5, 2019) – The newly launched GW Health Policy & Management Matters (GWHPMMatters) website is a source for insights into and commentary about policy changes that impact public health as well as news, analysis and blogs on health administration and management. Like the school’s popular HealthReformGPS website that helped policymakers and many others interested in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) track the progress of its implementation, the new website will provide relevant and insightful resources for a range of audiences interested in health policy and health management.
“Like the HealthReformGPS site, GWHPMMatters publishes faculty-driven information, analyses, and original research on rules and policies and major developments impacting health policy both federally and at the state level, as well as major judicial decisions. For example, we have been publishing important data on the impacts of Medicaid work requirements in recent months,” said Sara Rosenbaum, JD, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and founding chair of the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH). “But it goes well beyond that by also focusing on healthcare management and leadership. We have been publishing important data on the impacts of Medicaid work requirements in recent months.”
Housed within the Milken Institute SPH’s Department of Health Policy and Management, the new website tracks faculty and staff research work relating to healthcare policy and management developments that impact public health in the United States and abroad. In addition to blogs with commentary on significant developments, the site includes information about notable publications, presentations, and videos by and about members of the department and school. Key areas of focus include health information technology and innovation, health economics, health equity, health services research, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the workforce that delivers health care, and important government reports.
“Health policymakers and health administrators work hand-in-hand to develop and implement policy and management tools that best support the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care in a healthcare system that is undergoing great change,” said Jane Hyatt Thorpe, JD, interim chair of the Milken Institute SPH’s Department of Health Policy and Management. “Our website publishes important research about both health policy and health administration because they are deeply intertwined and have such a significant impact on one another.”
Examples of original research published on the website include an estimate of the impacts of Medicaid work demonstrations in Arkansas, Kentucky (as well as one on how Kentucky’s demonstration would affect community health centers), and Montana. Other popular posts have included comments filed about proposed rules, such as the so called “public charge” rule, and friend of the court briefs filed by noted public health scholars related to recent ACA-related federal and state court cases.
"Our department publishes and publicizes research aimed at strengthening the evidence for effective interventions, effective decision-making and priority-setting in health administration and management," said Douglas Anderson, PhD, MHA, FACMPE, an associate professor of health management at the Milken Institute SPH who serves as an advisor for the website.
The website’s faculty advisors include Anderson, who successfully managed and directed physician group medical practices and established a Medical Services Organization for an integrated health delivery system operating in a three-state region. Janet Heinrich, DrPH, RN, is a research professor who previously served as senior advisor at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Naomi Seiler, JD, is an associate professor with training and interest in the law, substance abuse, and reproductive health whose previous experience includes helping to develop public health legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Our location in the nation’s capital just a few Metro stops away from the White House and U.S. Capitol gives us a unique opportunity to interact with the nation’s policymakers and leaders and both observe and influence the national debate,” Thorpe said. “Our faculty includes some of the nation’s foremost experts on health policy, health administration and health management.”
The GW Health Policy and Management Matters website can be accessed at GWHPMMatters.com.
The Milken Institute SPH thanks Peter Kovler and the Kovler Fund of local Community Foundation for providing support to assist with the development of the GW Health Policy and Management Matters project.