Population Health Institute Awarded Grant: "Medical Homes for High-Risk Pregnant Women in Southeast Wisconsin: Do They Improve Birth Outcomes?"

The UW Population Health Institute has been awarded a grant from the UW Partnership Fund’s Collaborative Health Sciences Program to study a pilot program that enrolls high-risk pregnant women in Southeast Wisconsin into medical homes.  The research team includes Dr. Jonathan Jaffery (UW-Principal Investigator), Dr. Lindsey Leininger (UChicago), Dr. Ken Schelhase (MCW), Linda McCart (DHS), and Dr. Bobbi Wolfe (UW).  Donna Friedsam (UWPHI) is the Project Manager.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services provides enhanced Medicaid/BadgerCare payments to providers that enroll high risk pregnant women into medical homes, providing  more intensive service than standard care, including care coordination, home visiting, and other non-clinical supports.  The goal of the study is to determine if the medical homes are effective in improving birth outcomes among BadgerCare Plus-enrolled high-risk women in Southeast Wisconsin. This study will help guide further state investments in this model and help inform how the state might address one of its most intractable population health challenges.