RE-AIM Evaluation Plan for Washington State Innovation Models Project.

Area of Science:

• Health services research
• Public health policy
• Healthcare system innovation

Background:

• Washington State received a $65 million federal award for the State Innovation Models (SIM) initiative.
• The goal is to enhance population health, improve care quality, and control healthcare costs statewide.
• SIM is a complex intervention within a decentralized health system, presenting evaluation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the state-level evaluation methods for Washington's 3-year SIM intervention (2016-2018).
• To apply the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework for structured evaluation.
• To outline a plan for using mixed methods to assess SIM performance across RE-AIM components.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the RE-AIM evaluation framework to structure the study.
• Developing a conceptual model for the evaluation.
• Employing multiple and mixed methods for comprehensive data collection and analysis.
• Adopting a statewide, population-based perspective for evaluation.

Main Results:

• The study outlines the evaluation methodology for a large-scale state health innovation initiative.
• The RE-AIM framework provides a structure for assessing complex interventions.
• A mixed-methods approach is proposed for a comprehensive statewide evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The proposed evaluation methods provide a robust framework for assessing the impact of the State Innovation Models initiative.
• Applying the RE-AIM framework and mixed methods is crucial for understanding complex health system interventions.
• This approach enables a statewide, population-based assessment of healthcare quality and cost improvement efforts.