Telehealth and Maternity Care
Strategies and Resources for State Policymakers and Payers to Improve Access to Telematernity
Transforming maternity care in the U.S. in a way that reduces maternal morbidity and mortality and eliminates health disparities will require supporting maternity-specific telehealth. U.S. maternal mortality rates are much higher than other industrialized countries – nearly 10 times higher than in Italy and about three times higher than in Australia. Additionally, there are considerable racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S.
State policymakers can help improve maternal health outcomes by implementing policies that increase access to telehealth for maternity care, especially prenatal care. This new resource supported by the Commonwealth Fund provides actionable insights for state policymakers and payers to improve access to maternity care via telehealth, including the key takeaway for states, which is that equity must be part of the policy design.
Click here for free access to all materials, including:
- Policy Overview – Telehealth and Maternity Care: A COVID-19 Policy Crossroad
- Telematernity Policy Views from State Medicaid Programs
- Arizona
- North Carolina
- Wyoming
- Telematernity Policy View from Medicaid Managed Care
- Redesigning Prenatal Care: The Role of Telehealth
- Telematernity Policy Toolkit for State Policymakers and Payers
This project was supported by the Commonwealth Fund, a national, private foundation based in New York City that supports independent research on health care issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy.
Books and Book Chapters
Service Design and Service Thinking in Healthcare and Hospital Management
Brenda Gleason and Jennifer Bohn are co-authors of the chapter entitled “Using Small Step Service Design Thinking to Create and Implement Services that Improve Patient Care”. The chapter highlights several examples of small step design thinking that help healthcare organizations make service changes, resulting in significant improvements in patient outcomes.
Entire book or single chapters will be available for purchase in January 2019 on Springer.com
Service Business Model Innovation in Healthcare and Hospital Management
Brenda Gleason and Jennifer Bohn are co-authors of the chapter entitled “Essential Characteristics of Service Business Model Innovation in Healthcare: A Case-Study Approach”. The chapter highlights examples of successful innovation at four different health systems, based on interviews with leaders from each institution.
Entire book or single chapters available for purchase on Springer.com
Essential Case Studies in Public Health
Brenda L Gleason is the co-editor of the Essential Case Studies in Public Health: Putting Public Health into Practice by Jones and Bartlett Learning. The book is part of the Essential Public Health Series. Brenda is also co-author on two of the case studies included in the book.
Case #6: An Outbreak of Yellow Fever in Paraguay: Health Risk Communication in a Crisis. Authors: Jauregui B, Gleason B, Gurman T, and J Andrus.
Case #18: The X-Pack Smoking Cessation Kit: A Social Marketing Case Study. Authors: Abroms, L, Mobley A, Lucariello K, and B Gleason
Essential Case Studies in Public Health is available for purchase on Jones & Bartlett Learning and Amazon.com.
8 Things We Can Do To Fix the System
“This book gives practical suggestions any one of us can use to improve the health of our families and ourselves. Gleason offers a common sense approach to get more from the health care system starting with each of us.”
-TOMMY G. THOMPSON, Former Secretary U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
8 Things We can Do To Fix the System is available for purchase on Amazon.com
Papers and Reports
The Promise and Potential Hazards of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Neuropathy, Neuropathy Action Foundation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere, but what is it exactly and how might it affect patients with neuropathy? Could it be used to find new treatments? To improve the speed of diagnosis? To further scientific research in neuropathy? Yes, the hopes for AI for patients living with neuropathy are that AI could do all of these things and more. Still, AI also poses some hazards for people with neuropathy, especially when AI is used to restrict access to care.
AI is rapidly transforming the way neuropathy is diagnosed, treated, and managed. By enhancing early detection, improving symptom management, personalizing treatment plans, and accelerating drug development, AI has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for patients with neuropathy. However, patients need to be vigilant in advocating for uses of IA in health care that are fair, transparent and maintain a human in the loop of decision making. Brenda Gleason of M2 Health Care Consulting was a contributor to this white paper.
Trends in Adult Vaccination, IQVIA Institute
Achieving a high rate of adult vaccination equitably can help increase overall population health and reduce healthcare costs and health inequities. However, adult vaccination rates generally remain low in the U.S., especially compared to child vaccination rates. In particular, the most vulnerable populations, such as those in the Medicaid program, witness disproportionately low vaccination rates. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the drivers of vaccination in these populations to evaluate appropriate policies and efforts for enhancing these rates.
This report collates and utilizes state-level provider (pharmacists and office-based physicians) reimbursement data for influenza vaccine supply and administration for Medicaid fee-for-service populations and state-level influenza vaccination rates in these populations to provide an assessment of the relationship between these two variables. This assessment showcases the variations in reimbursement amount across states and the impact this can have on vaccination rates. This analysis is intended to serve as an important input into policy discussions around enhancing the Medicaid vaccination rates. Brenda Gleason of M2 Health Care Consulting was a contributor to this report.
The Promise of Gene Therapy for Neuropathy and Rare Diseases, Neuropathy Action Foundation
Cell and gene therapy science continues to evolve and will bring more innovative products to the market. For patients to access these innovative therapies, however, innovative policies will also be required. While patients in the U.S. currently face a range of barriers in accessing medical interventions that can prevent, slow, or stop disease progression, cell and gene therapies represent a shift in clinical options for addressing health conditions and diseases from palliative to curative.
The policy environment will need to adapt to the different clinical options gene therapy products present, as well as the higher initial price points of these therapies, in several ways. Three interrelated adaptations will be foundational to ensuring patient access: 1) Centering patient and family input, 2) Assessing value appropriately, and 3) Creating new payment models. Brenda Gleason of M2 Health Care Consulting was a contributor to this white paper.
Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation, Community Catalyst
For individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, misaligned incentives across these programs can result in higher costs and worse health outcomes. As a result, policymakers have been especially interested in developing integrated programs to better coordinate services. The Community Catalyst report, Listening to Dually Eligible Individuals: Person-Centered Enrollment Strategies for Integrated Care, published in July 2021, contains findings and recommendations on how how to improve enrollment in integrated care for dually eligible individuals. Brenda Gleason of M2 Health Care Consulting co-authored the report with Rachelle Brill from Community Catalyst, and Julia Curbera, Carolyn F. Fisher, and Amanda Robinson from the Institute for Community Health.
HSCA 2020 Annual Report
For the fourth year in a row, M2 worked closely with the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) to write the association’s annual value report. The report found GPOs played a critical role in supporting COVID-19 response efforts; helped promote an increase in member provider use of virtual health operations from 2 percent to 70 percent; drove quality throughout the healthcare system; increased competition; and advanced supply chain resiliency while delivering up to $34.1 billion annually in critical cost-savings to providers.
HSCA 2019 Annual Report
For the third year in a row, M2 worked closely with the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) to write the association’s annual value report. The report reflects updated findings from the second survey of the association members, representing a wide range of group purchasing organizations.
HSCA 2018 Annual Report
For the second year in a row, M2 worked closely with the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) to write the association’s annual value report. The report reflects updated findings from the second survey of the association members, representing a wide range of group purchasing organizations.
HSCA 2017 Annual Report
M2 worked closely with the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) to write the association’s first annual report. The report reflects the findings from a survey of the association members, which represent 14 group purchasing organizations, including for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, purchasing groups, associations, multi-hospital systems and healthcare provider alliances.
Chronic Pain: Women’s Health Care
M2 collaborated with a group of stakeholders to reveal the adversity faced by women suffering from chronic pain conditions as they navigate the health care system. The resulting report —”Chronic Pain in Women: Neglect, Dismissal, and Discrimination”—provides policy makers with a set of recommendations to overcome the issues facing women suffering from chronic pain.
Youth Health Care Coalition
M2 worked with a newly formed coalition to address issues related to health care transition. The first project of the group – The Coalition for Young Adults Living with CMCD – is a white paper entitled “Enhancing Health Care Transition for Youth and Young Adults Living with Chronic Medical Conditions and Disabilities: Suggestions for Reform”.
Pfizer Case Studies
Brenda Gleason wrote twelve case studies illustrating ethical challenges in the conduct of international clinical research and Pfizer’s approach before, during, and after clinical trials. M2 conducted a series of interviews with various constituents to develop the case studies.
Case studies are also available at Pfizer’s Policies, Positions and Case Studies page.