Hilltop Presents at AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting

Three Hilltop staff presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting on June 23, 2013, in Baltimore, Maryland. Hospital Community Benefit Program Director Martha H. Somerville, JD, MPH, and Policy Analyst Gayle Nelson, JD, MPH, gave a poster presentation entitled Community Benefit State Law Profiles, which highlights the variation in community benefit laws across states in comparison with the federal community benefit standard. View the poster. Somerville also delivered a panel discussion, Community Health Needs Assessment: Legal Requirements, Practical Opportunities, on June 25. This presentation discusses hospital charity care/community benefits/tax exemption; federal community health needs assessment and implementation strategies; collaborative needs assessment; and the role of nonprofit hospitals in health system transformation. View the presentation.

On June 24, Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael Abrams, MPH, gave a podium presentation, Impact of Coordination/Integration on Medicaid Expenditures for Persons with Substance Use Disorders, at which he discussed his findings that cost savings of approximately $1,000 per member per year are correlated with coordination of care efforts targeting persons with substance use disorders. View the presentation. Abrams also presented a poster, Imminent Medicaid Enrollment Lapses after Inpatient Mental Health Treatment in Young Adult, which reveals factors that increase or decrease risk of Medicaid disenrollment among young adults (aged 18-26) discharged from an inpatient psychiatric stay. View the poster.

July 8, 2013