NIHCM Foundation Awards $320K in Investigator-Initiated Research Grants

Washington, DC — December 12, 2016 — NIHCM Foundation has awarded six new grants totaling more than $320,000 to support investigator-initiated health services research. The winning studies were selected for their potential to improve the health care system and their strong research design.

Over $1 million in grants have been made since the research grant program began in 2012. “The studies we’ve supported have been remarkably productive, uncovering important evidence, but also working to get that evidence in front of decision makers,” said NIHCM CEO Nancy Chockley. “We believe our investment in evidence will improve health care and ultimately improve lives.”

The latest round of grants will support the following projects:

• Promoting Better Pain Management Outcomes: Precision Decision Support for Opioid Prescription
  This study will investigate the feasibility and impact of using personalized decision support to assist physicians with prescribing decisions by predicting a patient’s risk of developing opioid dependence. Findings have the potential to improve prescribing practices and reduce the prevalence of addiction.

• Selected Market Failures in Health Care: Analyzing the Scope, Causes, and Potential Solutions
  This two-part study will examine health care market failures affecting consumers: 1.) the frequency and causes of surprise bills for out-of-network services, and 2.) the significance of various barriers to shopping around for services, including travel distance, referral practices, vertical integration and transparency. Results have the potential to inform policy responses.

• Evaluating and Improving Post-Hospitalization Mental Health Follow-Up Care
  This study will identify the characteristics associated with receipt of timely follow-up mental health care after a hospitalization or emergency department visit related to mental illness, and it will examine whether follow-up care affects outcomes or spending. Findings have the potential to improve care for this vulnerable and potentially expensive patient population.

• Patterns and Determinants of Inappropriate Diagnostic Imaging
  This study will describe the magnitude and costs of inappropriate diagnostic imaging and estimate the influence of patient, physician and practice characteristics and of physician self-referrals. Researchers will also examine the impact of cost containment initiatives in Massachusetts, with findings expected to inform future efforts to reduce inappropriate care.

• eQuality: Improving LGBT, GNC, and DSD Health Through a Comprehensive Medical School Training Program
  This study will develop, evaluate and disseminate a clinical skills training manual for medical students on how to provide high quality care to patients who are LGBT, gender nonconforming or have differences of sex development. This work has the potential to improve care standards nationwide through broader training on evidence-based practices.

• Consumer Directed Health Plan Impact on Low-Value Service Utilization and Spending
  This study will examine how enrollment in a consumer directed health plan (CDHP) affects use of and spending for 26 measures of low-value outpatient care. Results should inform discussions of the extent to which the growing use of CDHPs can reduce waste in the health care system.

About NIHCM

The National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the health of Americans by spurring workable and creative solutions to pressing health care problems.