Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
MEPS HC Health Policy Abstraction
This project involved the creation of an abstraction tool for use in extracting cost-sharing data elements from Summaries of Benefits and Coverage and other health insurance policy documents for private, Medicare, Medigap, and Medicare Advantage plans. Econometrica was responsible for training, implementing, and ensuring the quality of the data abstraction process using the abstraction tool developed by the team. The abstracted data will be compiled into a public-use database with individual-level cost-sharing data that links to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC) data for use in research and consumption by a variety of stakeholders as well as the public.
Are Social Networks Linked to Economic Mobility?
This project focused on understanding how someone’s social network impacts his or her economic mobility. Social network analysis provides a lens through which the social capital available to individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and upward mobility may be examined. Econometrica’s analysis detailed how the size, formation, and function of someone’s social networks impacts their related to employment, stable housing, and educational opportunities. Econometrica used statistical testing to understand if factors such as race/ethnicity and income impact social networks. Our analysis also provided insight into how people used their social networks to cope with the COVID-19 public health emergency.
To execute the project, Econometrica recruited for, conducted, and analyzed a total of 262 virtual interviews across three locations: Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; and Racine, WI. Our custom recruitment materials reflected the diverse nature of participants of all races and ethnicities that we sought to interview, including young African-American men, Spanish speakers, Asian individuals, single people, parents, high-income earners, and low-income earners. We found that opportunities were in fact impacted by social networks. In San Francisco, for example, Asian earning high incomes had the largest networks, while in Washington and Racine, White participants had larger networks than Black participants.
Global Tobacco Prevention and Control: E-Learning Courses
Econometrica is building two web-based e-learning courses over a 13-month period for the CDC Foundation’s Emerging and Novel Tobacco Products and Evidence-Based Strategies for Digital Media initiatives. The e-learning courses range from 65–75 minutes and include interactive activities include interactive activities such as animated videos, talking head videos, whiteboards, or polling. Each e-learning course also includes 90-second trailers. To develop these courses, Econometrica works closely with the CDC Foundation during all phases of course development to help ensure that content, as well as the style of the course, meet audience needs.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
BFCC National Coordinating Oversight & Review Center (NCORC)
The Beneficiary and Family Centered Care (BFCC) National Coordinating Oversight & Review Center (NCORC) conducts day-to-day activities to monitor, audit, and evaluate the performance of BFCC Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs). Activities completed under the BFCC NCORC contract will assist the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its evaluation of BFCC-QIOs and provide an assessment of impacts, outcomes, and effects of the interventions associated with the program. The assessment and evaluation of QIO performance completed on this contract will generate data necessary for NCORC to provide recommendations for improvements to the existing BFCC-QIO program.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Competitive Bidding Surveys
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with Econometrica to develop and conduct surveys to learn more about the experience and satisfaction of beneficiaries and referral agents with the equipment, supplies, and services received from Competitive Bidding Program suppliers vs. noncompetitive bidding suppliers. Additionally, we will develop and conduct surveys to gain knowledge about the contract suppliers’ services, as well as their interactions with beneficiaries and referral agents.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Learning System for Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model
The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced model is a voluntary bundled payment model that qualifies as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model. The model aims to support healthcare providers that invest in practice innovation and care redesign to better coordinate care and improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries while reducing expenditures. The Deloitte Team, consisting of Deloitte, LLC; Econometrica, Inc.; and TMF Group, makes up the Learning System for BPCI Advanced Model contract.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Post-Acute Care (PAC) Training
The purpose of the PAC Training project is to assess training needs, develop training materials, deliver training to providers and stakeholders, and evaluate the outcome of the trainings for changes and clarification needed due to the passing of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act). The PAC Training project also supports the training needs of the Hospice Quality Reporting Program and other PAC program-related training needs.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
State Data Resource Center (SDRC)
SDRC provides the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with technical assistance to support State Medicaid agencies in integrating care for individuals who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid (i.e., dually eligible beneficiaries). SDRC coordinates the delivery of Medicare data to States, provides technical advice, and helps States optimize the use of available data for care coordination, quality improvement, and program integrity. States’ care coordination efforts target the coordination of benefits between Medicare and Medicaid and include patient-level analyses; State program integrity efforts analyze and aim to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse within the State Medicaid system.
Industrial Heartland Project Automobile Focus Groups
Econometrica is designing and conducting focus groups to better understand how individuals and communities in the Midwest’s Industrial Heartland are being impacted by the automotive industry’s transition from gas to electric automobiles. We will conduct up to 30 focus groups with automotive workers, plant executives, and community leaders in six cities across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Our focus groups will give participants a voice on the positive and negative impacts of past transitions and perceived future transitions.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Open Payments Program Analytics
The purpose of this project is to ensure that the data collected through the Open Payments system is accurate and complete prior to publishing to the public. This allows interested parties to identify trends using reliable and complete data. The Econometrica Team benefits the Government by monitoring and cleaning the data entered, identifying members of the healthcare industry that should be reporting but are not, and providing analyses on the data. We have identified new ways to analyze compliance (e.g., identify missing or incorrect data) and the data to understand more about the relationships between the healthcare industry and healthcare providers.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Measuring the Benefits of FEMA Preparedness Grants
Econometrica is working to design and implement an evaluation to measure the impact of the Homeland Security Grant Program, with specific focus on National Preparedness Assessment Division (NPAD) grants. Through this work, our program evaluation experts are assisting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in expanding their understanding of the extent to which disaster preparedness grant funding makes an impact on readiness and capabilities at the local level. By developing econometric and statistical models, we aim to assist FEMA in building an evidence base for the effectiveness of their grant programs with quantitative estimates of the impacts of their funding.
Marine Corps Audit (Marine Corps)
Econometrica provided general audit support, including statistical sampling and analysis, to Kearney & Company for the audit of the U.S. Marine Corps. As part of its support, Econometrica was responsible for the following:
- Performing all programming and analysis needed to develop a sample strategy for the audit.
- Analyzing quarterly transactional data provided by the U.S. Department of Defense for the purpose of the audit.
- Preparing a quarterly sample in accordance with the sample strategy.
- Analyzing the results of the sample audit.
- Extrapolating those results to the universe of transactions being audited.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Million Hearts® 2.0 Clinical Implementation Contract
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Million Hearts™ Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model (CVDRRM) is part of a broader, cross-agency initiative to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and to improve the outcomes of care for people at risk of heart attacks and strokes. The model is a randomized controlled trial that financially incentivizes providers to use the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease risk calculator to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The purpose of the Million Hearts 2.0 Clinical Implementation contract is to help operationalize the CVDRRM and to oversee and monitor the model to make sure it is delivering the intended results and is operating effectively within program rules.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Data Aggregation for the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) Model
Econometrica is preparing a set of aggregator-specific data subsets for five regional data aggregators participating in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) Model. In executing these data pulls, the we must correct for changes in the source data over time, as fields are added to tables, existing fields are modified, and, in some cases, whole tables are added. Other technical tasks include tuning the codebase’s performance to ensure that the large number of data products are created in a timely fashion and automating quality assurance processes to a high degree to complete quality checks in a timely fashion.
U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
USTRANSCOM Transportation Working Capital Fund (TWCP) Audits for FYs 2021-2025
Econometrica is providing statistical sampling and analysis support to Cotton & Co. for the financial audit of the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), which is an U.S. Department of Defense agency responsible for managing the U.S. global defense transportation system.
Updating Standardized State Heating and Cooling Utility Allowance Values
This project conducts research for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to develop heating and cooling standard utility allowances (HCSUAs) for each State for FY 2022. Standard utility allowances (SUAs) are used in the determination of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility and benefits for low-income households.
Federal Highway Administration
Technical Support and Assistance to FHWA Office of Highway Policy Information Data Program
The Office of Highway Policy Information collects, processes, and publishes a range of transportation data and information. As a subcontractor to Battelle, Econometrica was awarded this contract to perform technical support to the Office of Highway Policy Information’s data program, which includes conducting data quality review, data compilation, data analysis, report preparation, document review, and technical editing.
Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) Support Services
Econometrica provided onsite and offsite support services to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies (CES) for the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD). This included providing SAS programming support for the Business Dynamics Statistics database, supporting the transition from the current CES Linux server to the Integrated Research Environment, enhancing the interactive web-based data visualization tool for CES research datasets, migration of CES website content to the new U.S. Census Bureau public website format, and development of the 2020 Decennial Census Disclosure Avoidance System.
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
Economic Analysis Consulting Services
Econometrica is providing expert assistance and technical support for the economic analyses that help the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement evaluate the economic impacts of its regulations, which are designed to increase environmental and safety protections at offshore energy development facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Universal Service Administrative Company
Enterprise Statistician Services
Econometrica provides statistical modeling and analysis services for Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC). Payment Quality Assurance Program and High Cost Mobility Fund and provides statistical service of unforeseen requirements for other USAC programs and/or departments.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Financial Analyses
Econometrica conducted an in-depth review of 41 recently completed, ongoing, or newly announced Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) models under our Financial Analyses project. We reviewed each model’s Innovation Center Investment Plan (ICIP); monitoring, evaluation, and reconciliation reports; and other public-facing documents. Coupled with our other Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services model experience, this project work provides us with a holistic understanding of ICIPs and model design, the role they play, and how their development has evolved to meet CMMI’s needs.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
RAD Choice Mobility & Long-Term Affordability
The purpose of this project is to conduct an evaluation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. The RAD program enables public housing authorities to convert their public housing units into Section 8 housing with the goal of improving the physical condition and financial viability of converted properties while providing tenants with the opportunity to other affordable housing if they so choose. The evaluation focuses on the impact RAD has had on tenants’ use of choice mobility, the long-term financial preservation of converted projects, and the oversight and management of those projects. It also examines the impact of RAD on other tenant outcomes and on organizational changes made by housing authorities.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Flint Housing Commision
Flint Housing Commission Technical Assistance
The Econometrica Team is working with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to build the Flint Housing Commission’s management capacity to continue to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing to the Flint, MI. community.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Public Housing Agency (PHA) Pension and OPEB Management
Econometrica was chosen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Financial Management Division to create a public housing agency pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) guidebook and PowerPoint presentation. The products developed as part of this technical assistance will be used as an educational tool for the governing body (board members) and senior housing authority staff in the use of pension and OPEB financial management best practices methodologies.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Marion County Housing Authority
Marion County Housing Authority Technical Assistance
Working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Chicago, IL., Field Office, Econometrica was chosen to provide direct technical assistance to the Marion County Housing Authority. The objective of this technical assistance is to increase agency capacity to manage and maintain the countywide portfolio.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Analysis
As a subcontractor to SP Group, Econometrica is conducting an analysis and review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. This guaranteed reverse mortgage program offers cash-strapped elderly homeowners the ability to tap into their home equity to meet living costs as they age in place. This program has grown significantly since its inception in the early 1990s, benefiting more than 1 million elderly borrowers. Over the past 10 years, however, the program has experienced wildly fluctuating financial results. HUD has responded to the program’s problematic financial performance by implementing a series of policy changes intended to control the government’s risks. This review describes the history of the HECM program, the costs the Government has absorbed in insuring these reverse mortgages, and the effect of HUD’s reform efforts on program costs and other policy objectives.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Analytical Support of the American Housing Survey
As a subcontractor to SP Group, Econometrica is continuing its role of providing continued support to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on the American Housing Survey, including updates to reports on the Characteristics of HUD-Assisted Housing and Their Units and the Components of Change in Inventory and Rental Dynamics reports.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Housing Insecurity Research Support for the American Housing Survey
As a subcontractor to 2M Research, Econometrica is supporting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a validated composite index or scale of housing insecurity based on data from the American Housing Survey and the recent Housing Insecurity Research Module.
Houston Housing Authority FMR Survey Services
The Houston Housing Authority retained Econometrica to appeal the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-published fair market rents (FMRs).. Econometrica was tasked to complete a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved rental survey in submission-ready format; obtain rental cost data that are statistically representative of the FY 2020 HUD Metropolitan Fair Market Area for Houston; and demonstrate whether a change is warranted from the proposed FY 2020 HUD FMRs. Econometrica was responsible for producing a survey acceptable to HUD and carrying out all aspects of the survey effort.
Philadelphia Housing Authority
Resident Council Technical Assistance Services
Econometrica was hired to develop and deliver training to groups of Resident Councils to clarify for the council members their roles and responsibilities and increase their capacity to do the following:
- Plan and implement activities in collaboration with the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
- Create, approve, and adhere to bylaws.
- Facilitate and monitor elections.
- Obtain and/or manage a nonprofit 501(c)(3) designation in support of its residents.
U.S. Economic Development Administration
Disaster Recovery Support Services
Econometrica has a Blanket Purchase Agreement with the U.S. Economic Development Administration to provide federally declared disaster communities with on-demand expertise in economic recovery, economic resiliency, economic development, workforce development, economic analysis and research, and training.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Capital Funding Guidebook – Training
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Capital Improvements tasked Econometrica with the development and support of virtual public housing authority (PHA) trainings on the following topic areas:
- Capital Fund Guidebook (updated).
- Capital Fund Standard Operating Procedures.
- Energy and Performance Information Center (EPIC) System functionality.
Econometrica also was tasked to provide remote (or possibly live, if and as able) more individualized technical assistance/training related to the impact of COVID-19 and its impact on maintaining PHA operations.