Health Research Services
Health Law and Policy
The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS), funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and implemented by CDM, provides accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information on alcohol policies adopted by governments at the State and Federal levels in the United States.
APIS is of primary use to researchers seeking to study the effects of alcohol policies, either singly or in combinations. The information provided by APIS is available to researchers and the public in searchable form through a publicly accessible website. CDM staff are developing summary indicators, measures, and variables to characterize alcohol-related policies in ways that facilitate comparisons of policies across jurisdictions and/or over time, and devise suitable display formats to represent policy characteristics and variation; identify and obtain information on the enforcement of and/or compliance with alcohol-related policies, and classify this information according to appropriate criteria; and implement rigorous quality assurance procedures to ensure utility, reliability, and integrity of the system and its various components.
Financing Health Care
Impact of Insurance Laws
CDM, in collaboration with the George Washington University Center for Health Services Research & Policy (GW-CHSRP) and the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), is currently under contract with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to evaluate the impact of insurance laws on substance abuse benefits in employer-sponsored health plans. The study is analyzing current insurance laws, regulations, and practices; conducting a search of the existing literature on issues related to these insurance laws, regulation, and practices; developing and implementing an economic model to estimate the costs of insurance policies to public and private payers as well as to society as a whole; conducting case studies of four or five States to verify current descriptions of their insurance laws, regulations and practices; and preparing reports and a briefing that will present the study’s findings.
The Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law, known by the acronym UPPL, is a set of laws first enacted in the late 1940s and 1950s that permit insurers to deny payment for treatment of injuries sustained by a person under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (referred to as theUPPL intoxication exclusion).
Financial Reporting Systems
CDM developed and maintains a Web Reporting System (WRS) for the HRSA Bureau of Health Professions, which monitors Federal loan and scholarship programs for the health professions. The WRS is a state-of-the-art data collection application that is more centralized, easier and less costly to manage, and more interactive with institutions than HRSA’s previous data collection system.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is charged with collecting and analyzing financial data to ensure that scholarship and loan programs for the health professions comply with applicable laws, regulations, and policies; that monies are properly disbursed, invested, and collected; and that the programs are vital, active, and targeted to those in the health professions for whom these programs are designed.
National and State Planning
Collecting Data
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) epidemiological research program is instrumental in formulating public policy, conducting research, and making findings available to researchers. CDM supports NIDA’s efforts by conducting qualitative research projects; organizing work groups of epidemiologists, ethnographers, and research scientists; producing meeting proceedings; communicating information on drug abuse epidemiology; and creating a directory of epidemiologists, ethnographers, and social and public health scientists and researchers active in the drug abuse field.
Needs Assessment
CDM supported the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's State Treatment Needs Assessment Program by providing technical assistance to State substance abuse agencies on how to: (1) conduct, and analyze data from, household and student surveys; (2) access and analyze indicator data from a variety of sources; (3) conduct studies of high-risk populations; (4) conduct treatment utilization studies; (5) identify gaps in treatment services; and (6) use collected data and information to develop resource allocation strategies.
HIV/AIDS Research Support Services
For the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS, CDM provided administrative and scientific support to help manage NIAID’s large epidemiological study working groups. These address diverse areas such as pathogenesis and basic sciences, therapeutics, data collection protocols, and experimental treatments.
Workplace Managed Care Substance Abuse Prevention
CDM supported a complex study to better understand managed care substance abuse prevention and early intervention practices, programs, and strategies in the workplace and in the publicly funded health care sector. CDM’s multifaceted approach included examining past research, conducting literature reviews and focus groups, soliciting input from technical experts, conducting policy analysis, and collaborating with national organizations and a national cross-site evaluation of the grantees.
Evaluation of Substance Abuse Prevention in Managed Care Organizations
CDM assisted the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Office of Managed Care initiative to assess and evaluate the substance abuse prevention policies and programs of managed care organizations. The result of this project was a curriculum and training titled "Integrating Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues into Rural Primary Care Practice." Special emphasis was placed on the learning needs of rural primary care providers wherever these were different from the needs of other providers.
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