Dr. Himmelstein is professor of family medicine, community health, and quantitative health sciences, and chief health policy strategist, Center for Health Policy and Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. Dr. Bindman is professor of medicine, health policy, and epidemiology and biostatistics, and director, California Medicaid Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.
Acad Med. 2013 Nov;88(11):1606-8. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182a7cdf8.
State Medicaid programs are playing an increasingly important role in the U.S. health care system and represent a major expenditure as well as a major source of revenue for state budgets. The size and complexity of these programs will only increase with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Yet, many state Medicaid programs lack the resources and breadth of expertise to maximize the value of their programs not only for their beneficiaries but also for all those served by the health care system.Universities, especially those with medical schools and other health science programs, can serve as valuable partners in helping state Medicaid programs achieve higher levels of performance, including designing and implementing new approaches for monitoring the effectiveness and outcomes of health services and developing and sharing knowledge about program outcomes. In turn, universities can expand their role in public policy decision making while taking advantage of opportunities for additional research, training, and funding. As of 2013, approximately a dozen universities have developed formal agreements to provide faculty and care delivery resources to support their state Medicaid programs. These examples offer a road map for how others might approach developing similar, mutually beneficial partnerships.
美国的医疗保健体系中，州立医疗补助计划正扮演着越来越重要的角色。它不仅是州预算的主要支出项目，也是其主要收入来源。随着《患者保护与平价医疗法案》的实施，这些项目的规模和复杂性只会日益增加。然而，许多州立医疗补助计划缺乏资源和专业知识，无法充分发挥其项目的价值，不仅无法使受助者受益，也无法使医疗体系中的所有服务对象受益。
大学，尤其是设有医学院和其他健康科学项目的大学，可以成为帮助州立医疗补助计划提高绩效的宝贵合作伙伴，包括设计和实施新方法来监测医疗服务的效果和成果，并开发和分享有关计划成果的知识。反过来，大学可以在利用更多研究、培训和资金机会的同时，扩大其在公共政策决策中的作用。截至 2013 年，约有十几所大学已经达成了提供师资和医疗资源以支持其州立医疗补助计划的正式协议。这些例子为其他大学如何建立类似的互利合作伙伴关系提供了路线图。
