Research Projects

Examples of community-based health care evaluation and research projects done by the Center for HOPES: 

• Establishing a Medical Home Network in Franklin County (Access HealthColumbus).  An economic feasibility study to estimate the costs that would be involved in expanding medical care capacity through three models of a "medical home" concept in Franklin County.  The project uses benchmark data from a variety of setting and involves a review and assessment of costs incurred in creating medical homes in other locations.  Analyses include economic cost modeling, relative to existing provider staffing practices.
   
  
• An Estimation of Potential Cost Savings from the Use of Nutritional Support Therapies in the Treatment of Pressure Ulcers in the United States (Abbott Nutrition).  Systematic review and anlysis of existing literature on the use of nutritional products and nutritional therapeutic products in the treatment of pressure ulcers and other wounds and development of economic models for assessing differentials in outcomes in care with therapeutics compared to conventional care.  This will result in the development of economic model for the net savings nationally that accure from the use of these supplements, and a policy analysis for federal Medicare to explore reimbursement options.
  
  
• Employed Immigrant Health Initiative  (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation).  Evaluation of various models developed for improving access to health care for Latino workers in the hotel and restaurant industries in the Columbus area.  Our involvement includes the design of effective strategies for enhancing access to timely and appropriate care and preventive services, assessment of the potential for each model to be feasibly replicated, and evaluation of the various models relative to various outcomes including cost, patient satisfaction, health status, and employer productivity.  
  
  
• Evaluating the Impact of State Coverage Reform Proposals (Ohio Department of Insurance).  An estimation of the effects of the state health care reform proposals developed by the Ohio State Coverage Initiative Advisory Committee, including analysis of the effects of the reform proposals on worker productivity, wages, employment and labor market factors, job growth, health care cost stability, small businesses, disparities, wellness and prevention, disease and chronic care management, and general economic impacts.
  
  
• Estimating the Community Benefits Related to the Provision of Charitable Care.  The Center for HOPES was recently approached by a consortium of Ohio health care systems to help them estimate the spillover economic and social benefits that are experienced by a community as the result of the system’s provision of charitable care.
  
  
• Evaluation of the Mansfield STD Re-entry Testing Pilot Program(Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections).   Evaluation of a program to screen for sexually transmitted diseases among inmates upon release from incarceration to determine the extent of infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and to assess behavioral risk factors in a prison population.  the Center's role includes monitoring the implementation of the STD pilot testing program, developing an inmate survey and analyzing survey data to assess potential desease risk factors during incarceration. 

• The Design of a Strategy for Evaluating Community Benefits Resulting from Columbus Medical Association Foundation Funding (Columbus Medical Association Foundation).   The Center for HOPES is providing technical assistance to help the Columbus Medical Association Foundation develop a specific assessment process for measuring and evaluating the community benefits and impacts dervied from four specific community health initiatives:  Access HealthColumbus, Our Optimal Health, the Central Ohio Trauma System (COTS), and the Physicians Free Clinic.
  
  
• Clinical and Translational Science Award (National Institutes of Health).   The Center for HOPES is designing and and coordinating the overall evaluation of the project's effects on clinical and translational science, including the translation of biomedical discovery into clinical practice.  The overall $34.4 million CTSA grant is one of the largest ever received by the university and will be used to build The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translationsl Science, a research center that will help streamline the patient care process.
  
  
• Metrics and Measurement Development Process (Managed Health Care Systems, Inc.)   Development and implementation of a plan for development of a set of performance standards to assess costs, quality of care, and utilization of services for this managed care plan.
  
  
• Health Care in Columbus.   This study summarized the current state of health care in the Columbus area, and identified strategies that could be undertaken by the business community for improving health care delivery.