G-2105-17022

The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) is a policy design and implementation partner devoted to improving outcomes for people enrolled in Medicaid. The organization works to improve health outcomes for millions of people across the country who face barriers to well-being, such as poverty, complex health and social needs, and systemic racism.

CHCS’ most recent CareQuest Institute grant project was developed in response to CareQuest Institute’s expressed interest in innovative approaches to preventive and value-based care with the goal of producing case studies (3-4) that profile the use, impact, and general reactions to this care among providers and patients. Given the discussions CHCS engaged in with both populations, the organization will instead produce a full issue brief that captures additional feedback shared across several interview sessions for CareQuest Institute review before the end of 2023. Beyond the active grant, CHCS has been an organizational partner to CareQuest Institute for more than a decade and has collaborated on projects such as the State Oral Health Leadership Institute, the Social Determinants of Oral Health Learning Collaborative, and several reports, including the recently published “Advancing Oral Health Equity for Medicaid Populations” paper upon which the proposed project will build.

In the organization’s proposal for 2023-24, CHCS outlines its plans to explore workforce capacity building as a key area of focus for Medicaid programs and stakeholders. More specifically, through a combination of individual conversations with diverse stakeholders (e.g., oral health providers, community-based organizations, and health plans) and group convenings of Medicaid staff members, CHCS would serve as both convener and forum to stimulate meaningful discussion and collaboration between states to improve access through workforce policy. Through one-on-one conversations, CHCS would work to narrow in on specific opportunities and supports to be discussed in small group convenings with Medicaid staff members, ensuring relevance to their stakeholders. Through the small group convenings for Medicaid staff (no more than 15 participants), CHCS would aim to better understand what supports and resources would be helpful to advance workforce capacity building while advancing health equity. Ultimately, CHCS would produce multiple deliverables following these engagements, including:

Two blogs – concise conversation summaries that capture stakeholder perspective and offer actionable next steps for readers/audiences

An Oral Health Workforce Support Memo – options for consideration by CareQuest Institute that would aim to increase the ability of Medicaid agencies and their partners to support the oral health workforce.

This memo could include the development of a learning collaborative for states to receive individualized technical assistance, a series of group learning sessions to educate interested Medicaid stakeholders on opportunities to improve workforce engagement, or developing, curating, and disseminating resources via a resource center to promote oral health workforce related equity efforts in Medicaid.

CHCS is a well-connected and positioned partner on matters of health and racial equity, oral health advocacy, and Medicaid-focused issues. The organization has found success in its ability to convene key Medicaid stakeholders (patients, community agencies, state Medicaid directors, and providers), capture their stories, and develop important educational and advocacy materials for the broader oral health field. This request was originally submitted as a planning grant earlier in 2023, but following discussions with the organization, has now come to focus on a single topic area within oral health to explore with Medicaid in mind. Given the impact the ongoing healthcare workforce shortage continues to have on access for Medicaid-eligible populations, this issue area responds to a challenge consistent across the United States.

The new proposal budget request, submitted with the addendum to the original proposal, is $124,374. The requested grant funds will support several staff positions who will be engaged in various stages of the recruitment, interview, data analysis, and communications production processes ($98,172). The remaining grant funds will support office operational supplies (i.e., telephone, internet, printing, etc.) and indirect expenses ($16,000).