# Mental Health Provider Networks in Medicaid and Implications for Care Utilization and Health Outcomes

> **NIH NIH K08** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $189,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Candidate: Jane M. Zhu, MD, MPP, MSHP is a primary care internist and health services researcher who is
passionate about improving access to health care and health outcomes for vulnerable populations. She has a
particular interest in mental health care. To advance her career towards independence, she seeks didactic and
experiential training to develop subject matter expertise in mental health; methodologic expertise in Medicaid
claims analysis and training for future electronic health data linkages; and qualitative and mixed methods skills.
Research Context: A provider network is a list of all health care providers and facilities that a health plan has
contracted with to provide medical care to its members. There is little understanding of what characteristics of
mental health provider networks are important for providing high-quality care despite ongoing monitoring and
regulation efforts. This need is magnified in Medicaid, one of the largest payers for mental health care in the
U.S. This proposal seeks to understand which key modifiable characteristics of provider networks can improve
care utilization and clinical outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries with mental health diagnoses, to help enable
health care institutions and policymakers to more effectively balance the tensions between increased access to
treatment and the resource constraints faced by a public insurance program.
Specific Aims: 1) Characterize variation in mental health provider networks; 2a) Measure the association
between provider network characteristics and care utilization patterns and clinical outcomes; 2b) Assess
differential associations between provider networks and care utilization patterns and clinical outcomes in a sub-
group of beneficiaries with severe mental illness (SMI); 3) Identify how care delivery factors interface with
provider networks to explain variations in mental health care utilization patterns and clinical outcomes.
Research Plan: To accomplish these aims, Dr. Zhu will learn and apply a sequential explanatory mixed-
methods approach that leverages network variation from 2014-2018 in Oregon’s Medicaid program, combining
Medicaid administrative claims analysis with document analysis and qualitative interviews of in-network
providers. A future R01 will utilize a multi-state sample to examine the impact of variation in provider networks
on quality of mental health care, via Medicaid Analytic eXtract data linked to electronic health records.
Career Development Plan: Working closely with her mentors, Dr. Zhu will 1) develop subject matter expertise
in the design and organization of mental health coverage and service delivery; 2) gain methodologic expertise
in analyzing Medicaid administrative datasets alongside foundational training in supplementing claims-based
analyses with electronic health record data; and 3) develop skills in qualitative and mixed methods research.
Environment: Oregon Health and Science University offers an ideal ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10029659
- **Project number:** 1K08MH123624-01
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jane Mingjia Zhu
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $189,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10029659

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10029659, Mental Health Provider Networks in Medicaid and Implications for Care Utilization and Health Outcomes (1K08MH123624-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10029659. Licensed CC0.

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