The Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research (CAHSPER) convenes healthcare providers, payers, consumers, researchers, economists, advocates and policymakers to generate and discuss ideas for healthcare reform in Missouri under the banner of Transforming Healthcare in Missouri.
Transforming Healthcare in Missouri (THM) events have led to the development of a series of nonpartisan, evidence-based policy recommendations for the state.
Latest THM Meeting
THM, Part IX: Transportation Benefits as a Driver of Health in Medicaid
Our 2024 Transforming Healthcare in Missouri event, held on September 27, focused on Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) – a vital Medicaid benefit. About 50 attendees participated in the six-hour event that included a keynote speaker from Connecticut’s Department of Social Services, a local panel, and facilitated breakout discussions on four subtopics. Missouri’s NEMT broker, MTM, engaged with attendees including WashU faculty, Missouri Medicaid agency leadership and staff, and numerous stakeholders from Missouri health care organizations including front-line clinical staff faced with navigating the NEMT system and its challenges on behalf of their patients. Several actionable ideas were reported at the end of the day, and a white paper summarizing the entire event will follow.
Past THM Meetings
Read summaries, access recordings, and read white papers from past THM events.
On September 22, 2023 our center held the eighth Transforming Healthcare in Missouri event — Bridging the Gaps with Community Health Workers: From Global to Local and Back — a convening on the impact of policy translation on community health work. The Center for Dissemination and Implementation, Center for Global Health, Center for Aging, and Center for Community Health Partnership and Research co-sponsored and helped facilitate the event. This year’s THM was attended by community partners, health system leaders, and state policymakers. It included presentations and breakout sessions with community health and public health experts and highlighted the evidence-based value of community health work and its impact on health care and population health.
On September 20, 2022, our center held the seventh Transforming Healthcare in Missouri meeting. The event convened Missouri Medicaid stakeholders including providers, researchers, managed care leaders, community organizations, and state policymakers. Meredith Rosenthal, PhD, professor of Health Economics and Policy at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, presented “Value-based payment: Sizing up the progress of public and private payer reforms.” The event also included a panel on existing and potential value-based and accountable care models within Missouri Medicaid and small group discussions.
On April 1, 2022, our center held the sixth Transforming Healthcare in Missouri event with keynote speaker, Nancy Schoenberg, PhD, of University of Kentucky who spoke on Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide: Leveraging Common Bonds to Impact Obesity and Diabetes Outcomes. Additional speakers included Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD of the Brown School and Denise Wilfley, PhD, of Arts & Sciences and the School of Medicine. Abigail Barker, PhD, faculty lead for data and methods at the Center for Health Economics and Policy, guided breakout group discussions for developing policy proposals related to diabetes and obesity.
In October 2021, we convened managed care organization representatives, clinicians, program leaders, advocates, and other stakeholders in Missouri pregnancy care for Transforming Healthcare in Missouri, Part V — Policies & Partnerships to Advance Pregnancy Outcomes. These attendees heard from presenters and panelists who shared information on models of pregnancy care that are known to be effective. Attendees discussed these models and other ideas of interest that may advance quality care for pregnant women in Missouri.
In July 2020, the Center for Health Economics and Policy (former CAHSPER name) and the Clark-Fox Institute at WashU hosted Policy Missouri Medicaid Transformation: A Dialogue on Implementation, a virtual event intended to generate innovative ideas for improving Medicaid payment in Missouri. Participants were divided into small groups and tasked with proposing innovative ways of paying for care, with a focus on improving health equity and addressing the social determinants of health.
The Rapid Response Review of MO HealthNet by McKinsey & Co. was used as background information for forming this event.
The third THM, held on December 14, 2018 in Jefferson City, Missouri, was designed to bring recommendations from the first two THMs to a meeting with state leaders from the Missouri Departments of Health and Senior Services, Social Services, and Mental Health, and to representatives from statewide health and healthcare organizations.
On October 3rd, 2018, the Center for Health Economics & Policy (former CAHSPER name) and the Clark-Fox Policy Institute of Washington University in St. Louis convened healthcare providers, payers, consumers, researchers, economists, advocates and policymakers for part two of Transforming Healthcare in Missouri. Participants were asked to prioritize challenges and identify actionable solutions regarding Missouri healthcare.
In October 2017, the Center for Health Economics & Policy (former CAHSPER name) and the Clark-Fox Policy Institute of Washington University in St. Louis convened healthcare providers, payers, consumers, researchers, economists, advocates, and policymakers for an event that included speakers, a panel of stakeholders, and five working groups. The task was to prioritize challenges and identify actionable solutions.