University of New England

Mission
The University of New England’s Center for Health Policy, Planning and Research (CHPPR) is dedicated to improving the health status of populations. We identify, develop and evaluate innovations related to access, delivery and quality of health care and health policy.

Vision
To be a nationally recognized leader in planning and research on health policy and practice innovations.

Values
We believe that:

• Strategies to improve healthcare access and delivery should be evidence-based and built upon the tenets of patient-centered care.
• Lasting improvements in health status occur when communities, families, patients and health providers participate in planning and implementing change.
• Successful innovations in health care at the community level inform effective policy innovations at state and national levels.

Services
We perform high quality planning, training, research and evaluation services across five health areas:

• Policy Research on innovations that directly impact the delivery of health care. Areas of focus include access to care, quality of care, health insurance coverage and use of information technology. We conduct research to identify programs that meet population health care needs and perform evaluation studies to determine the impact and cost-benefit of programs.
• Primary Health Care with a special focus on chronic disease prevention, treatment and care coordination. We assess the use of primary care services for appropriateness and cost-benefit. We design and/or evaluate models and processes for improving quality and access to care. Our work informs integration of care across the continuum (medical, community and patient), improves patient self-management and identifies health disparities.
• Health Informatics with a special focus on strategies that optimize the use of health data and information systems for decision-making by healthcare providers, consumers and policy-makers.
• Community Health Needs Assessment/Benefit Planning to identify priority health needs in populations and sub-populations. We use a comprehensive data driven process to identify best practice solutions that fit with the local needs of populations and the delivery system.
• Health Communication and Training with a focus on health literacy, plain language, and clear health communication. We help organizations develop clear health communication policies, train health professionals in effective communication strategies, and develop print and web-based materials that are appropriate and accessible to consumers/patients.

In each of our projects we draw upon the expertise of our staff and consultants who specialize in the areas of medicine, health care systems, public health, epidemiology, research methods, information technology and clear health communication.  We use an interdisciplinary approach to project management that increases our ability to generate innovative solutions that help our clients address priority health issues, guide strategic planning, and facilitate improvements to their delivery system.

What makes us different?
Expertise, years of experience in health needs assessments and extensive relationships with practioners, academic medical centers, and research organizations enables CHPPR to provide you with solutions that support the needs of populations and stakeholders. CHPPR is committed to assisting clients through all phases of the project: from assessment and planning to coordination and management to monitoring and evaluation.  CHPPR’s approach is based on rational planning with proven assessment and planning tools and processes.  Each project begins with a realistic framework of the critical components of change.  This provides us a clear understanding of the current situation, the population served and the stakeholders required for effective innovations in the areas of prevention, treatment, surveillance and preparedness.  This process provides the foundation for need-based solutions that can be monitored over time against performance and outcome indicators. 

Over the past 18 years, CHPPR (formerly PHRG) has conducted planning and research studies for federal, state and local governmental entities, hospitals and health systems; associations and health insurance companies in the US and abroad. Clients retain our services for our expertise, methods and experience base we bring to assignments and our history of delivering high quality information for decision-making on time and in budget.

We are pleased to provide references upon request.