G-2411-22229

The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) is a policy, design and implementation partner devoted to improving outcomes for people enrolled in Medicaid. The organization works to improve health outcomes for millions of people across the country who face barriers to well-being, such as poverty, complex health and social needs, and systemic racism.

CHCS has been an organizational partner to CareQuest Institute for more than a decade and has collaborated on projects such as the State Oral Health Leaderships Institute, the Social Determinants of Oral Health Learning Collaborative, and several reports, including the “Advancing Oral Health Equity for Medicaid Populations” publication. CHCS has found success in its ability to convene key Medicaid stakeholders (patients, community agencies, state Medicaid directors, and providers), capture their stories, and develop important educational and advocacy materials for the broader oral health field.

In 2023, CHCS began grant funded activities with a long-term goal of designing and launching an oral health equity focused collaborative specifically for the Medicaid program. 2023 activities included the collection of data from interviewees that included national, state, and community perspectives related to oral health equity for Medicaid-enrolled individuals. CHCS analyzed interview data to identify common themes, concerns, and recommendations for designing a learning collaborative that would advance oral health equity in Medicaid.

CHCS requests funds to build on their work over the past year to better understand how they can best serve states through potential workforce-focused projects that advance equity. CHCS used findings from: (1) the previously published “Advancing Oral Health Equity for Medicaid Populations”; (2) a brief literature review; (3) the ten oral health stakeholder conversations that took place in 2023; and (4) a facilitated small group discussion with state oral health officials that took place in 2023, to identify workforce priority areas and preferred support styles for future opportunities. From this work, CHCS learned there are opportunities, and interest from states, to craft and/or strengthen policy and programming that would target inequities, expand the workforce, and support providers’ ability to work at the top of their level. Additionally, CHCS identified the need for more awareness-raising and information-sharing across multiple stakeholders involved in oral health and Medicaid to better support providers’ ability to participate in the Medicaid workforce.

In 2025, grant funds will be utilized to support up to nine states to be part of the “Oral Health Workforce Implementation Learning Series,” a multi-state collaborative-based learning series. States will attend bi-monthly webinars on workforce topics that would give states the opportunity to connect with their peers, subject matter experts, individuals with lived experience, and implementors (managed care plans, community-based organizations, professional associations, etc.). With a focus on successful on-the-ground implementation, CHCS would help states uncover lessons, best practices, and potential pitfalls of workforce-focused policies and programs. Curriculum topics would draw on priority areas captured from the first phase of CHCS’ work (e.g., school-based workforce, medical-dental integration, role of managed care, etc.) and have an equity emphasis in their content and presenter representation. As a part of the project, CHCS would develop written products highlighting successful workforce policies and programming for national dissemination. Overall, the learning series will lift and disseminate insights for other states to replicate as they endeavor to leverage workforce capacity building efforts to advance equity for their Medicaid population.

This request represents 9% of the organization’s overall budget. Most funding is allocated to staff time while the reaming will cover honoraria costs for reviewers, office and occupancy, and indirect expenses.