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MIT Sloan announces collaboration with Staten Island PPS to drive change in healthcare

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 12, 2019––As technology innovations help drive the transformation of the healthcare industry, clinical, economic, administrative, lifestyle and genetic data are critical in redesigning a health system that benefits all participants. Leveraging expertise in data analytics and management research, the MIT Sloan School of Management’s Initiative for Health Systems Innovation (HSI) works with leading health systems in the field to design, implement, and evaluate innovations that have the potential to substantially improve health or lower healthcare costs. As part of this initiative, HSI recently announced a formal collaboration with the Staten Island Performing Provider System (SI PPS), an alliance of clinical and social service providers focused on improving the quality of care and overall health for Staten Island’s Medicaid and uninsured populations.

“This is an exciting and unique collaboration with SI PPS that could result in a significant amount of learning, not just about what works, but about how and why it works and how it can be adapted and scaled to other groups,” says Dr. Anne Quaadgras, director of HSI.

Dr. Joseph Conte, executive director of SI PPS, says, “The Staten Island PPS is proud to be HSI’s first collaborator, and we welcome the formal relationship with MIT Sloan. We have an advanced data warehouse and our technology is being adopted in programs throughout the country. We look forward to working together to address systemic problems like the opioid epidemic.”

New York Congressman Max Rose notes, “The opioid epidemic is one of our nation’s greatest public health crises, and there is no doubt that it has hit communities like Staten Island particularly hard. That’s why the incredible work being done by Staten Island PPS and the Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education (HOPE) Program is so critical—and this [collaboration] with MIT will only further their innovative and comprehensive approach to tackling this crisis.”

The early focus of the collaboration with SI PPS is on evaluating the initial successes emerging out of their advanced community-centered data platform. The longer-term focus is on assisting SI PPS in enhancing these successes with rigorous evidence and thereby support their adoption by health systems throughout the country.

Ashley Blauvelt, managing director of strategic initiatives at SI PPS, notes, “This collaboration will help us leverage the numerous innovations implemented throughout Staten Island. These include transformational programs in substance abuse, creation of numerous workforce opportunities, implementation of an EMS diversion program, law enforcement collaborations, housing for shelter residents, and cultural competency trainings.”

Building on the work with SI PPS, HSI is exploring a broad range of research collaborations around the country with both local and national organizations that share a commitment to innovation in addressing healthcare challenges. Over the next few years, HSI will conduct comparative studies and evaluations with data from those groups to highlight analytical and organizational levers that lead to change.

Themes addressed will include management of healthcare analytics, combining the design, implementation, and evaluation of new tools in behavioral health interventions as well as other key aspects of health systems. Efforts will support ways to integrate and scale innovations, and the research process will showcase analysis, design and testing methods to inform future work.

Quaadgras adds, “This collaboration with SI PPS enables us to do impactful work that will make a significant difference in transforming the many health systems that are poised to change. Our approach highlights our expertise in using data, analytics, and world-class management research to understand not just stated problems, but to dig deeper with our collaborators to define problems, determine transparent measurement techniques with data, test potential solutions, and share learnings.”

About MIT Sloan's Initiative for Health Systems Innovation (HSI)

MIT Sloan’s Initiative for Health Systems Innovation (HSI) brings unparalleled management research expertise to the challenges of transforming health systems. Its multidisciplinary approaches bridge data and analytics, technology and innovation, organization design and operations, and finance and economics. HSI works directly with innovative practitioners and seeks to identify practical solutions with visible impact.

About the MIT Sloan School of Management

The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu.