Expansion of Research Capabilities to Study Comparative Effectiveness in Complex Patients

The UNC-CH Sheps Center will perform two sets of activities as described below:

1. Collaborate with NCCNC staff to create an integrated database linking three data sets maintained by the NC Department of Health and Human Services: HEARTS (state psychiatric hospital admissions), IPRS (outpatient mental health services), and Medicaid claims. Sheps Center staff will provide technical assistance in identifying relevant mental health data elements in each data system, composite measures of service use, the development of codebooks for the integrated database, and the creation of an oversite structure for managing the integrated database and making it available to the research community in NC and elsewhere.
2. Conduct a small proof of concept study to confirm the accessibility and usability of the integrated data base. This study will focus on medical homes for patients with mental illness and explore variations in primary care visits, services received and outcomes for patients with varying levels of psychiatric illness as contained in the integrated database

 

Joseph Morrissey, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Marisa Domino, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Joel Farley, Ph.D., Co-Investigator