Ensuring Better Healthcare
Founded in 1994 as a partnership with Maryland Medicaid, the Center for Health Program Development and Management (CHPDM) at UMBC provides non-partisan healthcare analysis to county, state and federal agencies, as well as to private foundations. “Our ultimate mission is to ensure better care for patients,” says Charles Milligan, CHPDM’s executive director. “This [center’s work] is an ongoing expression of a personal message; namely that the faculty and staff here are truly dedicated to the well-being of the community within which we live and work.”
CHPDM cites among its biggest achievements:
- Contributing to the design and implementation of HealthChoice, Maryland’s statewide mandatory managed care program which oversees the contracting of Medicaid providers
- Developing healthcare policies to create streamline access to community-based services for seniors
- Evaluating the quality of HMO’s and the transformation to a managed care system from a previously fragmented fee-for-service system
In addition, the Center has worked to secure children’s health insurance for the working poor, maintained a relationship with the AIDS Administration, collaborated with the Maryland Department of Aging in assessing the needs of the elderly and created a STD awareness program for women in Carroll County.
CHPDM’s unique relationship with UMBC “gives support to the public health and social service system through an independent non-partisan research organization,” explains Milligan. The Center also maintains an academic partnership with students and faculty interested in healthcare policy issues. “We enjoy being citizens of UMBC and working with the students,” says Milligan.
For the next 10 years, Milligan foresees CHPDM’s continued dedication to long-term care that will adapt to the needs of the aging population, as well as the diversification of the kind of work the Center deals in, especially mental health.
(11/1/04)
