Mass. receives $300K to study healthcare behavior
The state’s Health Policy Commission (HPC) has been awarded a $300,000 grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to continue its work researching consumer behavior and perceptions in health care, the agency announced Tuesday.
The HPC was one of 11 awardees, out of nearly 180 proposals submitted altogether. The award and initiative will be implemented over the next 12 months. It is the first private grant award in the agency’s nearly three year history. It was awarded the grant in partnership with researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine.
David Seltz, executive director of the HPC, said the grant is an incredible opportunity for the agency to better understand what influences consumers’ decision making when it comes to selecting healthcare services, and to empower them to make more value-based choices.
“HPC research has shown that Massachusetts residents use high-cost teaching hospitals at a much higher rate than the nation, and that for routine procedures, these hospitals often do not have appreciably better quality than community hospitals. This research will provide crucial insights to support design of policies and incentives to support consumers in making high-value choices,” Seltz said in a statement.
As part of the initiative, the Health Policy Commission and researchers will use hospital discharge and claims data, conduct focus groups, utilize an online survey, and complete interviews with policy leaders across the nation to examine consumer perspectives on the value of different care settings.
The initiative will have a strong focus on community health systems versus more expensive academic systems for services that are high volume and of varying cost, can be planned in advance, and may be performed in a broad set of care settings, such as childbirths as well as uncomplicated hip and knee replacements.
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