Medicaid Research

Through a partnership the Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance (DMMA),  and the College of Health Sciences, CCRS undertakes a number of analyses based on Medicaid data. Medicaid, health insurance coverage for low-income women, men, and children, insures approximately one-fourth of our population in Delaware. Working collaboratively DMMA and other state agencies, CCRS is able to analyze Medicaid paid claims data to identify ways of enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness,  impact, and return on investment of the state and federal Medicaid dollar. 

CCRS and DMMA are members of AcademyHealth's State-University Partnership Learning Network (SUPLN), an ongoing collaboration that works to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and dialogue among state-university partnerships.

CCRS participates in the Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) as a member of the DE-INBRE Centralized Share Resources (CSR). 

"Its goal is to expand research activities across basic, translational and clinical areas throughout the First State while also increasing Delawares competitiveness for federal biomedical research funding. In doing so, Delaware INBRE supports impactful, state-of-the-art research that creates jobs, prepares tomorrows workforce and improves the health of Delawareans."

Core Access Award:  Requests for proposals for research based on the Medicaid Claims in the areas of maternal/child health, pediatric populations, and social determinants of health are periodically issued. For more information, please contact Erin Nescott at eplynch@udel.edu.  

The Medicaid claims data files contain claims from calendar year 2012 to present.  The database is comprised of five different files:

Medical claims (date of claim, diagnoses, Current Procedure Terminology Codes)

Prescription claims (date of claim, National Drug Codes)

Client demographics (gender, race, birthdate)

Client Supplemental (eligibility, aid category, Primary Care Physician, Family ID, address)

Provider data (address, Provider identification number)

​Evaluation of the Del-CAN Program, 2016-2023

Researchers in the University of Delaware Center for Community Research and Service, Center for Drug and Health Studies and Department of Sociology are partnering with researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park on a systematic, mixed-methods evaluation of the Delaware Contraceptive Access Now (DEL-CAN) intervention which aims to reduce unintended pregnancies, reduce Medicaid costs for unintended pregnancies, and support policy development that enables contraceptive access to all women who desire it. The evaluation is designed to understand the DEL-CAN Plans effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and to derive lessons about mechanisms leading to initial and sustained impacts in Delaware, and to impacts that are generalizable to other states. A five-year evaluation period, 2016 to 2021, is planned and the use of Medicaid transactions data will play an important part in the project.

Substance Abuse Treatment Research

CCRS is involved in two projects focused on measuring opioid metrics within Delaware. The first project is a multi-state collaboration lead by AcademyHealth State University Partnership Learning Network (SUPLN) using a distributed research network (DRN) model (MODRN)​. In all participating states, the Medicaid Medical Director participates in the steering committee which defines appropriate metrics.

CCRS is also participating in the Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance's (DMMA) Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) grant.

CCRS is presently collaborating with John Hopkins University on an evaluation of a MOUD treatment program for incarcerated individuals and follow-up after release.

Delaware INBRE Projects

CCRS, as part of the Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Centralized Research Service Network is collaborating on the following INBRE Core Access voucher projects:

• Describing the Sickle Cell Population in Delaware to Inform Novel Models of Care Delivery. Stephanie Howe Guarino, MD, MSHP​, Christiana Care & Nemours. CCRS researchers: E. Nescott & M.J. McDuffie
• Linking Evictions, Homelessness, and Pediatric Health​. J. J. Cutuli, PhD, Nemours & S. Metraux, CCRS. CCRS researchers: M.J.McDuffie & E. Nescott.
• ​Area Deprivation and Hypertension Diagnosis in Youth: Mediating Role of Obesity​. Carissa Baker-Smith, MD, Nemours. CCRS researchers: M.J. McDuffie & E. Nescott
• Impact of Health Literacy on Medication Adherence among Black Medicaid Beneficiaries with Hypertension in Delaware. Yandelala Cuffee, PhD, UD College of Health Sciences. CCRS researchers: M.J. McDuffie & E. Nescott.
• ​How Do Medicaid Policies Affect Use of Primary Care? ​Katie Fitzpatrick, PhD. Biden School of Public Policy & Administration. CCRS researchers: K. Gifford & M.J. McDuffie
• Exploration and analysis of child lead testing and intervention in the Medicaid population ages 0-4 through the years 2014-2018​. Kelli O. Thompson, Nemours Children Health Systems. CCRS researchers: E. Nescott & M.J. McDuffie

Delaware INBRE is supported by the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences under grant number P20GM103446.

Delaware Homeless

Understanding and identifying shared populations and their health care and housing needs based upon matching Medicaid management information system and the Community Management Information System databases.​