“We are honored that the state of Texas has reaffirmed its trust in our expertise.”
The State of Texas has awarded a contract to the University of Florida’s Institute for Child Health Policy to assess the quality of care of both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which serve low-income families and people with disabilities. The Institute for Child Health Policy team also works closely with the Texas programs to design and implement strategies for ongoing quality improvement. The four-year contract became official this month and begins on August 31, 2025.
The Institute also holds the current contract from Texas and is recognized as a national leader in examining healthcare quality and in developing corresponding evidence-based health care delivery interventions. A specialized research team has experience in conducting in-depth, scientifically sound evaluations of health programs such as the Texas Medicaid and CHIP programs that serves nearly five million clients.
“We have a strong track record and an incredible team to carry out this major health care quality research and to collaborate with the Texas Medicaid Program to implement interventions for ongoing quality improvement,” said Elizabeth Shenkman, PhD, the director of the Institute for Child Health Policy. Shenkman co-leads the contract with Deepa Ranka, MS, and both hold positions in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics in the University of Florida’s College of Medicine.
“We are honored that the state of Texas has reaffirmed its trust in our expertise to ensure Medicaid and CHIP patients receive high-quality care,” said Ranka. “This recognition is a reflection of the team’s hard work, passion, and collaboration. It’s truly a team effort, and I am deeply grateful for the energy, creativity, and passion everyone brings to the table.”
Texas is required by law to obtain an independent assessment and to work on improving the quality of healthcare it provides.
Keys to Accountability
Also known as the Texas External Quality Review Organization, this UF team focuses on assessing quality of care and providing evidence-based information to the Texas Medicaid Program about the care provided to the Medicaid enrollees. By contracting with a research center in another state, Texas benefits from nationally recognized expertise and an impartial perspective.
In addition to specialized researchers, the University of Florida has a supercomputer infrastructure that enables the Institute for Child Health Policy to provide a highly-detailed, real-world picture of clinical practice. It receives data from both Texas and Florida and receives monthly updates to all Medicaid and CHIP medical and dental claims and encounters from 2007 to present.
Growing Concerns
The Institute also addresses emerging health issues. For example, in 2017 it started monitoring prescription opioids in the Texas Medicaid population in response to the nation’s growing opioid epidemic. It also developed specific methods to assess the quality of the Texas STAR Kids program for children with disabilities, and its findings have impacted the state’s legislation.
A major source of support for addressing current issues is the Institute’s strong partnership with the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.
Staying Organized
The External Quality Review Organization’s four research units involve multiple faculty members to address: Quality Improvement and Implementation Science; Data Science and Analytics; Evaluation Research; and Biostatistics and Geospatial Analysis. Some of the team’s reports are available from a Texas Health and Human Services webpage for Medicaid CHIP Quality and Efficiency Improvement Data and Reports. One of the freely available products is the Texas Healthcare Learning Collaborative, a web portal that intends to increase accountability and information-sharing about the quality of care.
Snapshots of External Quality Review Organization
