Health Policy Program Area

The Institute for Public Administration (IPA) provides a range of health policy–related services to many of Delaware’s governmental and healthcare organizations such as the Delaware Health Care Commission, the Delaware Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, and the federal government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Frequently focusing on health policy issues facing state governments, IPA recently has conducted projects in the following areas:

• designing and updating funding mechanisms/formulas to allocate public funds to Delaware senior centers
• analyzing small employers’ knowledge, attitude, and opinions about options for expanding health insurance coverage
• studying what the uninsured say about the quality of their health care
• analyzing policy options for state governments and nonprofit healthcare organizations to narrow and eliminate racial and ethnic healthcare disparities
• enhancing quality measurement using the Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (CAHPS).

IPA health policy projects often are conducted in collaboration with the College of Human Services Education, & Public Policy’s Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research.

Courses in health policy and the economics of health care (see top of page), offered through the University of Delaware’s School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy and Department of Economics, provide MPA students and undergraduate research fellows an opportunity to learn a broad array of skills needed to analyze and craft sensible health policy and to manage public and nonprofit health service institutions. IPA co-coordinates the MPA program's health policy and management specialization.

For more information, e-mail Eric Jacobson or call him at 302-831-1711.