Established Evidence Results

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Outreach (School Staff), Educational Material (Provider), Patient Navigation,

Intervention Description: The intervention in the study is described as a school-based outreach pilot program aimed at increasing access and participation in State-subsidized health insurance. The specific activities of the intervention include including State-subsidized insurance marketing material in the student registration packet and providing outreach material to develop sustainable strategies for identifying uninsured children and systematically incorporating child health outreach into routine school district operations

Intervention Results: The study's results indicate that the school-based outreach program was effective in identifying uninsured children and facilitating their enrollment in State-subsidized health insurance programs. The outreach efforts resulted in a significant response rate, with a notable number of children enrolled in the program as a result of the intervention. These findings suggest that incorporating health insurance outreach into routine school district operations can be a successful strategy for reaching uninsured children and increasing their access to State-subsidized health insurance

Conclusion: The conclusion of the study suggests that integrating the collection of health insurance status into routine school communication channels is an effective way to identify uninsured children who may be eligible for State subsidized benefits. The research, conducted in Van Buren County, MI, estimates that 70% of the 1,211 uninsured children are eligible for State subsidized health insurance. A survey distributed with free and reduced lunch applications and school registration identified 156 uninsured children, raising questions about the external validity of the research. The study proposes the extrapolation of results to the entire county or even the state, emphasizing the simplicity of the survey and the statewide management of the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. The approach, already successful in several states, could provide a sustainable and everyday method for effective outreach to identify uninsured children. Additionally, the study rejects Ho2, stating there is a statistical difference in the number of applications received from a school-based outreach program during the pilot period. The analysis of application data shows a positive relationship between time and the number of applications received, with a predicted increase of 5.6593 applications in each subsequent period. The model's strength is supported by a relatively strong R² of 77.58%. However, the study acknowledges that 23% of the error remains unexplained, possibly due to factors such as the pilot outreach intervention. The actual number of applications in May 2013 exceeded the predicted range, suggesting factors not accounted for in the model.

Study Design: The study is described as a cross-sectional pilot study designed to employ a school-based outreach effort utilizing existing school communications to identify children who are currently uninsured and may be eligible for State subsidized health insurance.

Setting: State of Michigan schools

Population of Focus: The target audience for the study includes K-12 students and their families, particularly those who are currently uninsured and may be eligible for State subsidized health insurance.

Sample Size: The study identifies 156 children as not having health insurance, representing more than 44% of the 358 children who are eligible for State subsidized health insurance in the participating school districts

Age Range: The age range of the children involved in the study is K-12, which typically includes children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Assessment, Consultation (Parent/Family), Outreach (School Staff),

Intervention Description: The study examined the effectiveness of an ambulatory behavioral health urgent care pilot project, the Urgent Evaluation Service (UES), in reducing emergency department (ED) visits and improving collaborations with schools in the local community. The UES model involved same-day, ambulatory psychiatric evaluation and care coordination for school-aged children experiencing behavioral health crises.

Intervention Results: The UES model was effective in reducing preventable ED visits and meeting the mental health needs of students in crisis. The study found a decrease in the volume of school referrals to the ED during UES hours of operation, dropping from 80 to 45 pre- and post-pilot, a decrease of 44%. The admission rate of school referrals to the ED during the day shift increased from 4% in 2013 to 11% in 2014, suggesting an increase in the proportion of clinically appropriate ED referrals, with subacute referrals being diverted to the UES.

Conclusion: The study suggests that urgent psychiatric evaluation and care coordination may be an effective model for reducing preventable ED visits and meeting the mental health needs of students in crisis. The authors recommend further analysis of a more fully developed UES with attention to utilization, cost-effectiveness, and the experiences and outcomes for patients, families, and school personnel to justify the model.

Study Design: Observational

Setting: The study was conducted at a large urban hospital in Brooklyn, New York.

Population of Focus: The target audience for the study is mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers interested in improving access to mental health services for school-aged children.

Sample Size: The sample size for the study was 72 students referred to the Urgent Evaluation Service (UES) from January 1 to June 30, 2014.

Age Range: This article focuses on school-age children and adolescents who were referred for behavioral health evaluations and crisis management. This typically encompasses individuals between the ages of 5 to 18 years old.

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Policy/Guideline (State), Public Insurance (State), Outreach (School Staff),

Intervention Description: The intervention is state Medicaid policies allowing 12 months of continuous eligibility for children, regardless of changes in family income that would otherwise end eligibility.

Intervention Results: Results show that continuous eligibility is associated with reduced rates of uninsurance, gaps in coverage, gaps due to application problems, and fair or poor health status. For children with special health care needs, it is also associated with increased preventive care, specialty care, and any medical care.

Conclusion: Continuous eligibility may be an effective strategy to reduce gaps in coverage for children and reduce paperwork burden on Medicaid agencies.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study analyzing data from a national survey.

Setting: The study analyzed data from children in all 50 states, focusing on those with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level.

Population of Focus: The target audience is policymakers and Medicaid administrators.

Sample Size: The full sample size is 22,622 children. The sample of children with special health care needs is 6,081.

Age Range: The age range is 0-17 years.

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Education on Disease/Condition, Outreach (School Staff), Patient Navigation,

Intervention Description: The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Health Insurance Services has partnered with the department’s Early Intervention Program to implement a Service Integration Model to enroll CSHCN, aged 0 to 3, into public health insurance. This model is based on a combined approach of educational messaging to clients and individual counseling or assistance to facilitate enrollment and renewal of health insurance serving a hard-to-reach and vulnerable population. This model uses data from program databases and staff from children’s programs to proactively identify uninsured and underinsured children and facilitate their enrollment into public health insurance. The model has 3 key components allowing for comprehensive and continuous coverage for CSHCN: (1) integration of program messages within the Early Intervention Program (e.g., welcome letter to parents, brochure and poster for provider agencies), (2) data matching with child program data (Early Intervention data, Medicaid data, Census data), and (3) incorporation of program staff (Office of Health Insurance Services child benefit advisors) to work directly with parents (e.g., available in multiple languages and at convenient hours and locations). The model overcomes enrollment barriers by using consumer-friendly enrollment materials and one-on-one assistance, and shows the benefits of a comprehensive and collaborative approach to assisting families with enrollment into public health insurance. A key strategy is to prevent gaps in coverage resulting when parents fail to renew their children’s coverage. Staff are strategically co-located at the offices of providers who serve children enrolled in the Early Intervention Program.

Intervention Results: Since 2008, more than 5,000 children in the Early Intervention Program have been successfully enrolled and coverage renewed in Medicaid through the Service Integration Model. In 2008, the study team found that children in the Early Intervention Program had a34% churning rate for Medicaid because of enrollment barriers and misconception of the Early Intervention Program as a replacement for Medicaid. By 2010, the churning rate for clients assisted through Office of Health Insurance Services was reduced from 34% to 8%. The Office of Health Insurance Services will modify the Service Integration Model to respond to New York State’s implementation of the Health Insurance Exchange required by the 2010 ACA. The model is replicable by other government agencies serving the uninsured and underinsured. Partnerships across government programs and agencies offer opportunities to enroll hard-to-reach populations into public health insurance.

Conclusion: Partnerships across government programs and agencies offer opportunities to enroll hard-to-reach populations into public health insurance. The model reflects how government programs can work together to improve rates of enrollment and retention in public health insurance. The key elements of integration of program messages, data matching, and staff involvement allow for the model to be tailored to the specific needs of other government programs.

Study Design: Program evaluation

Setting: Community (New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Health Insurance Services and the Early Intervention Program)

Population of Focus: Young children with special health care needs

Sample Size: 6,500 children in early intervention with a Medicaid number

Age Range: 0-3 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Multicomponent School-Based Program, Outreach (School Staff), Care Coordination,

Intervention Description: N/A

Intervention Results: Based on a sample of 64,710 children, 0.5% identified school-based providers as their primary source of health care. Children who were older, uninsured, or living in the Northeast were significantly more likely to report school-based providers as their usual source of care. Children whose usual source of care was a school-based provider were less likely to receive care meeting medical home criteria than children who usually received care at a doctor's office.

Conclusion: While SBHCs improve access to care, our findings indicate potential challenges with establishing a medical home for children who usually receive health care from a school-based provider.

Study Design: Using data from the 2016-2018 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), we analyzed children's usual source of care (school-based provider, doctor's office or clinic, other location, or none), and whether they received care meeting medical home criteria.

Setting: 2016-2018 National Survey of Children's Health; United States

Population of Focus: Children and adolescents, particularly those that use SBHCs

Sample Size: 64710

Age Range: 0-17

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Provider Training/Education, Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, CLASSROOM_SCHOOL, Teacher/Staff Training, PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), Outreach (School Staff)

Intervention Description: Healthy and Ready to Learn is a targeted, school-based CHIP and Medicaid outreach initiative for identifying and enrolling eligible and uninsured children entering kindergarten in North Carolina’s highest need counties. School nurses and administrative staff attend regional trainings on how to use a required health assessment form, submitted at school entry, to identify uninsured children who could be eligible but are not enrolled in public insurance. Continuous community-based outreach (e.g., attending community events, providing outreach materials in various languages, contacting local organizations and leaders to help inform families about CHIP and Medicaid) is also utilized.

Intervention Results: With increased enrollment rates and well-child exam rates, findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for parents from low-income backgrounds. The initiative increased enrollment rates by 12.2% points and increased well-child exam rates by 8.6% points in the regression discontinuity design models, but not differences-in-differences, and did not significantly increase well-child visits. Findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for low-income parents.

Conclusion: Findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for low-income parents.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity

Setting: Schools (Elementary schools in North Carolina)

Population of Focus: Uninsured kindergarten-aged children in high economic need counties in North Carolina

Data Source: Medicaid and CHIP administrative data, focus groups, key informant interviews

Sample Size: 300 children; 16 counties were selected as intervention sites that included 278 elementary schools in 22 districts; in the second year, expanded to 32 counties

Age Range: 4-6 years