Jeung Receives NIHCM Grant to Increase Access to Postpartum Mental Health Care via Telehealth
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Chanup Jeung, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy, has received a one-and-a-half-year grant from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation. The $49,981 award will support a research project to assess the potential of telehealth to enhance access to postpartum mental health among Medicaid patients. The project team includes health promotion and policy faculty members Kimberley Geissler and Laura Attanasio.
Postpartum mental illness impacts 1-in-5 in women who give birth. Prior to the pandemic, Massachusetts Medicaid began reimbursing telehealth behavioral health services at parity with in-person visits. This study will investigate the impact of this policy change on overall use of postpartum mental health services, differences among rural and non-rural areas, and mental health outcomes. Findings will inform the development of policies in other states that aim to improve perinatal mental health.
The grant is among the $500,000 in funding the NIHCM Foundation awarded to top health care researchers to advance evidence on a broad range of factors that contribute to rising health care costs and ongoing health care disparities. The studies aim to break new ground on important topics like the impact of private equity investment in health care, cybersecurity in hospitals, the social determinants of health, and issues linked to the ending of the public health emergency.
"We are delighted to support leading researchers who will advance NIHCM's commitment to producing pioneering evidence that can be used to help address the challenges facing our health care system. These innovative studies will increase our understanding of opioid addiction, telehealth, disparities in diabetes care, mental health care, and other timely topics,” said Nancy Chockley, Founding President and CEO of NIHCM.
The NIHCM Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to transforming health care through evidence and collaboration. Learn more here.