PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations may increase care engagement and quality among pregnant and postpartum patients

A new study found that Medicaid ACOs in Massachusetts were associated with increases in prenatal and postpartum office visits, postpartum depression screenings, and timely postpartum care.

2024-09-03
(Press-News.org) Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations May Increase Care Engagement and Quality Among Pregnant and Postpartum Patients

A new study found that Medicaid ACOs in Massachusetts were associated with increases in prenatal and postpartum office visits, postpartum depression screenings, and timely postpartum care.

Despite recent declines in nationwide maternal mortality, the United States continues to experience a significant maternal health crisis, in part shaped by inequitable access to quality healthcare for too many pregnant and postpartum people, particularly those who are covered by Medicaid. 

Medicaid accountable care organizations (ACOs) have the ability to address this inequity in care by improving both coordination and quality of care for pregnant patients during and after their pregnancy, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).

Published in the journal Health Affairs, the study examined changes in pregnancy and postpartum healthcare after the implementation of Medicaid ACOs in Massachusetts and found that this value-based model of care was linked to increases in prenatal and postpartum office visits, postpartum depression screening rates, and the likelihood of a timely postpartum visit. 

The results provide valuable insight and data on the maternal health benefits of ACOs for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid enrollees. Almost half of all pregnant people in the US are covered by Medicaid, yet only 12 US states to date have active, statewide Medicaid ACOs. The need is urgent: pregnant Medicaid enrollees have an 82-percent greater risk of severe maternal complications—and thus, maternal mortality—than privately insured pregnant patients. Preterm birth rates are similarly higher among this group, and 40 percent of Medicaid enrollees do not receive postpartum care.

“Our results suggest that expanding Medicaid ACO models—especially in the 38 states that don’t currently have Medicaid ACOs—has the potential to improve engagement in prenatal and postpartum care,” says study lead and corresponding author Dr. Megan Cole, associate professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH and co-director of the Medicaid Policy Lab. “Increased care engagement provides more opportunity to address the physical, behavioral, and social needs of patients, which is especially important given that many Medicaid patients have inadequate engagement in prenatal and postpartum care.”

Funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), the study presents the first major findings from a five-year NIMHD grant that Dr. Cole received in 2023 to evaluate how Medicaid ACOs can improve quality and equity of care for pregnant patients.

The research team from BUSPH and Boston Medical Center leveraged an opportunity to evaluate the effects of a statewide Medicaid ACO program on pregnancy and postpartum quality-of-care measures in a real-world, natural setting when Massachusetts formed 17 ACOs under its Medicaid program in 2018—one of the most comprehensive Medicaid ACO programs in the nation that aimed to better coordinate and integrate physical, behavioral, and social care of Medicaid patients. Under the program, participating Medicaid providers were tasked with improving cost and quality of care for Medicaid patients, where providers could receive financial incentives for performance measures such as timely prenatal care and depression screenings. The ACO program could have especially benefited pregnant and postpartum Medicaid patients.

The team utilized claims data on Medicaid-covered live deliveries in Massachusetts to examine changes in pregnancy and postpartum quality of care for more than 65,000 unique deliveries, comparing measures between ACO and non-ACO pregnant patients, from 2016-2020 (before and after the Medicaid ACO program was implemented).

Although there were positive changes in care engagement and process-oriented quality measures, the team observed no changes in delivery or health outcomes, such as SMM or preterm birth, nor prenatal or postpartum emergency department visits.  

The lack of improvement in outcome measures suggests that there are opportunities to reform and redesign ACOs—in Massachusetts and in other states—in a way that better prioritizes and improves maternal health outcomes, the researchers say.

“Our findings are encouraging, yet prompt us to look further,” says study senior author Dr. Lois McCloskey, clinical professor of community health sciences at BUSPH. “What is it about ACOs, and how they are structured and led, that leads to stronger engagement in care? We are using qualitative methods to shed light on that question. And beyond that, we want to understand how the care provided by ACOs can be improved and make a difference in the health outcomes of pregnant and postpartum people.”

Ultimately, says Dr. Cole, “efforts to improve maternal health through care delivery reforms must happen alongside broader efforts that address the social and structural determinants of maternal health inequities.” 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers discover mechanism that could control longevity, cancer cell production

2024-09-03
Researchers at UC Merced used fruit flies to uncover a cellular process common to many organisms that could dramatically impact the understanding of cancer and aging. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology Professor Fred Wolf, then-graduate student Sammy Villa and Genentech Vice President and Senior Fellow in Physiological Chemistry and Research Biology Vishva Dixit, discovered a mechanism that cells use to tune how much protein they make through the process of translating RNA into protein. “This mechanism may be responsible for changes in protein translation in stress, cancer, and aging,” Wolf said. Their work is detailed in the journal Nature ...

Department of Energy announces $142 million in grants to small businesses

2024-09-03
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $142 million for small businesses in 34 states. The 123 projects to be funded address multiple mission-critical areas important for the nation, including clean energy and decarbonization, cybersecurity and grid reliability, fusion energy, and nuclear nonproliferation.   American small businesses play a critical role in these DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, which transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into ...

Re-creations of 1870s railway photos reveal profound change to Kansas, Colorado plains

Re-creations of 1870s railway photos reveal profound change to Kansas, Colorado plains
2024-09-03
LAWRENCE — A fascinating new book chronicling transformation on the plains of Kansas and western Colorado uses repeat photography — contemporary re-creations of 1870s photos — to reveal startling changes to the landscape. Its author isn’t just a photographer and veteran of years of “Kansas-ing” — his term for searching off-the-beaten-path curiosities across the Sunflower State — but also a University Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at ...

Rice lab develops protein assembly road map for gas vesicles

Rice lab develops protein assembly road map for gas vesicles
2024-09-03
HOUSTON – (Sept. 3, 2024) – As far as water gear goes, floaties are not exactly high tech. But the tiny air-filled bubbles some microorganisms use as flotation devices when they compete for light on the water surface are a different story. Known as gas vesicles (GVs), the micrometer-sized bubbles hold great promise for a host of biomedical applications, including imaging, sensing, cellular manipulation and tracking and more. The problem is researchers do not yet know how to make medically useful GV varieties in the lab. Rice University ...

Study: Late start of COVID treatment may still benefit immunocompromised patients

Study: Late start of COVID treatment may still benefit immunocompromised patients
2024-09-03
ATLANTA — Starting antiviral treatment as late as 14 days after infection with SARS-CoV-2 may still be beneficial in hosts with compromised immune systems, who are at greatest risk of developing severe COVID-19, according to researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research at Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences.  While best to begin treatment earlier, in immunocompromised hosts, drugs like paxlovid and molnupiravir appear to inhibit replication of the virus even if initiated up to 14 days after infection.  The ...

Assorted, distinctive behavior of molten uranium salt revealed by neutrons

Assorted, distinctive behavior of molten uranium salt revealed by neutrons
2024-09-03
Assorted, distinctive behavior of molten uranium salt revealed by neutrons   The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a world leader in molten salt reactor technology development — and its researchers additionally perform the fundamental science necessary to enable a future where nuclear energy becomes more efficient. In a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers have documented for the first time the unique chemistry dynamics and structure of high-temperature liquid uranium trichloride ...

NASA's mini BurstCube mission detects mega blast

NASAs mini BurstCube mission detects mega blast
2024-09-03
The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months. “We’re excited to collect science data,” said Sean Semper, BurstCube’s lead engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s an important milestone for the team and for the many early career engineers and scientists that have been part of the mission.” The ...

ESMO Congress 2024

2024-09-03
Lugano, Switzerland, 3 September 2024 – The ESMO Congress 2024 will take place from September 13-17 in Barcelona, bringing together participants from all over the world. Press representatives eager to grasp cutting-edge data and hearing expert perspectives on the latest research, as well as on the current and emerging hot topics in oncology, are invited to attend the event, which will be held both onsite and remotely.  The full congress program is available online to help press representatives browse regular and late-breaking abstract ...

Prestigious NSF award to advance UK research to track emerging pathogens

Prestigious NSF award to advance UK research to track emerging pathogens
2024-09-03
We all have lived through a pandemic, its uncertainties, challenges, losses and scientific breakthroughs. A prestigious award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is advancing the work of a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky to help society be better prepared for potential future pandemics. Scott Berry, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, is the principal investigator ...

NIH awards will support innovation in syphilis diagnostics

NIH awards will support innovation in syphilis diagnostics
2024-09-03
The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded grants for 10 projects to improve diagnostic tools for congenital and adult syphilis—conditions currently diagnosed with a sequence of tests, each with limited precision. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that adult and congenital syphilis cases increased by 80% and 183% respectively between 2018 and 2022—a crisis that prompted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national taskforce to respond to the epidemic.   “Syphilis ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Reality check: making indoor smartphone-based augmented reality work

Overthinking what you said? It’s your ‘lizard brain’ talking to newer, advanced parts of your brain

Black men — including transit workers — are targets for aggression on public transportation, study shows

Troubling spike in severe pregnancy-related complications for all ages in Illinois

Alcohol use identified by UTHealth Houston researchers as most common predictor of escalated cannabis vaping among youths in Texas

Need a landing pad for helicopter parenting? Frame tasks as learning

New MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research shows how Golgi stress affects T-cells' tumor-fighting ability

#16to365: New resources for year-round activism to end gender-based violence and strengthen bodily autonomy for all

Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands

São Paulo to host School on Disordered Systems

New insights into sleep uncover key mechanisms related to cognitive function

USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery

Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance

3D-printing advance mitigates three defects simultaneously for failure-free metal parts 

Ancient hot water on Mars points to habitable past: Curtin study

In Patagonia, more snow could protect glaciers from melt — but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon

Simplicity is key to understanding and achieving goals

Caste differentiation in ants

Nutrition that aligns with guidelines during pregnancy may be associated with better infant growth outcomes, NIH study finds

New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA

Racial and ethnic variation in survival in early-onset colorectal cancer

Disparities by race and urbanicity in online health care facility reviews

Exploring factors affecting workers' acquisition of exercise habits using machine learning approaches

Nano-patterned copper oxide sensor for ultra-low hydrogen detection

Maintaining bridge safer; Digital sensing-based monitoring system

A novel approach for the composition design of high-entropy fluorite oxides with low thermal conductivity

A groundbreaking new approach to treating chronic abdominal pain

ECOG-ACRIN appoints seven researchers to scientific committee leadership positions

New model of neuronal circuit provides insight on eye movement

Cooking up a breakthrough: Penn engineers refine lipid nanoparticles for better mRNA therapies

[Press-News.org] Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations may increase care engagement and quality among pregnant and postpartum patients
A new study found that Medicaid ACOs in Massachusetts were associated with increases in prenatal and postpartum office visits, postpartum depression screenings, and timely postpartum care.