News

Health Equity

15 years in review with Executive Director Terrisca Des Jardins

Friends,  Fifteen years ago, no one could have anticipated where the Center for Health and Research Transformation (CHRT) would be today. We’ve gone through many iterations, making our 15th anniversary truly significant.  We were only guaranteed three years of funding when we opened the doors of our center. We started as a grant-making nonprofit to support health services research. For …

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Man looks into a nearly empty refrigerator

In The Media, WJR Radio: Project Manager Marissa Rurka discusses physician food interventions

Marissa Rurka, a project manager on CHRT’s research and evaluation team, joined Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, and Gerry Brisson, president and CEO of  the Gleaners Community Food Bank, for a conversation about how Michigan physicians screen patients for food insecurity, and what happens next. The Food First Michigan podcast (episode 91) is available …

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In The Media, State of Reform: Health navigators say Medicaid members benefit from plain language, reduced administrative burden

On June 30, State of Reform published an article relating the results of a newly released CHRT study about the effectiveness of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) outreach methods to Medicaid members. The study explored MDHHS communications around the implementation of Medicaid work requirements for the Healthy Michigan Plan (HMP) in early 2020.  While Medicaid communications are …

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New Health Equity Project aims to significantly reduce health disparities for vulnerable residents in five Michigan counties

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has pledged to provide a $9 million Medicaid match to launch a new Health Equity Project in five Michigan counties.   The Health Equity Project aims to help these counties reduce health disparities associated with pressing social needs such as housing instability, food insecurity, transportation, health system complexity, and other socioeconomic factors …

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CHRT Health Policy Fellow Dr. Renu Tipirneni calls for bold policy action to address disparities in COVID-19

There are significant disparities in U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths, but the underlying mechanism of these disparities remains unknown, says Health Policy Fellow Dr. Renuka Tipirneni. Tipirneni is a co-author of a cross-sectional study, published this month in JAMA Open, on the social and demographic factors most closely associated with COVID-19 incidence and death. In this study, Dr. Tipirneni and …

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