Summaries of Independent Scientist (K) Awards

Cooper, William

Institution: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Grant Title: Medicaid MCO's and Suboptimal Pediatric Care
Grant Number: K02 HS13076
Duration: 3 years (2003-2006)
Total Award: $508,670

Project Description: The goal of this project is to examine the effect of Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) on access to specific recommended care for children with asthma, as individual MCOs may have conflicting incentives for authorizing care or providing resources for care. The study will compare MCOs with respect to suboptimal use of preventive medications for asthma among approximately 24,000 children with moderate to serve asthma in Washington State and Tennessee. The study will be conducted using a Medicaid research database, linked with vital records and U.S. Census data in these two states. Additional studies will apply new research methodologies and will be directed at augmenting study findings by addressing recognized limitations of the proposed studies. These evaluations will increase understanding of inequities in care for children and will allow for future interventions to reduce disparities for vulnerable children.

Career Goals: The candidate is a pediatrician committed to improving equity in childhood healthcare outcomes, especially for low-income children enrolled in Medicaid. Dr. Cooper's career development goals include:

• To become a state-of-the-art health services researcher.
• To establish a child health services research center.
• To increase national visibility for child health services research in high-risk vulnerable children.

Progress to Date: Dr. Cooper continues to conduct studies to test the hypothesis that disparities in use of recommended care exist among children in Medicaid MCOs and are predicted by MCO characteristics. He has completed analyses of health plan characteristics and their effect on prescribing of controller medications to children with asthma. Findings from the research were presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco, California in May 2006.

Future Plans: Dr. Cooper will continue to pursue research and training opportunities, including mentoring of faculty with an interest in child health services research. Dr. Cooper plans to continue his involvement with national organizations including the Pediatrics Academic Societies, Child Health Services Research (CHSR) meeting in conjunction with Academy Health's Annual Research Meeting. He will continue his service on the Research Committee of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA) and develop manuscripts for professional publication.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Professional Societies:
  • American Academy of Pediatrics.
  • Ambulatory Pediatrics Association.
  • Cumberland Pediatric Foundation.
  • Member, Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy; steering committee CHSR.
  • Society for Pediatric Research.
• Secured space and support for a Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit at Vanderbilt.
• Mentoring and training of Unit faculty.
• Engaged in training a fellow in General Academic Pediatrics.
• Continues annual training in Institutional Review Board (IRB) regulations as a voting member of Vanderbilt's IRB.
• Extensive review of responsible research conduct for teaching of Vanderbilt's Masters in Public Health students in the Research Ethics course.
• Continued service on the Research Committee of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and asked to serve on the Executive Committee.
• Served as chair of the APA Young Investigator Grants, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded grants for 2004, 2005, and 2006.
• Selected to the Editorial Board of Ambulatory Pediatrics
• Served as Chair of the Child Health Services Research Interest Group for AcademyHealth 2005-2006

K-Generated Publications:

• Presented abstract entitled "Health Plan Feedback to Providers Improves Asthma Quality for Medicaid Children" at the 2006 Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting. Manuscript is in preparation from the work described at the PAS meeting.

AHRQ Research Portfolios: Socio-economics of Health Care; Training; Quality and Patient Safety.
AHRQ Goals: Efficiency

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