Megan Cole Brahim, PhD
Associate Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Health Law, Policy & Management

PhD, Brown University
MPH, Yale University
BS, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Websites
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ORCID ORCID Icon : 0000-0001-8731-4210



Dr. Cole is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management at Boston University School of Public Health, co-director of the BU Medicaid Policy Lab, and co-director of research & evaluation for the TEAM UP Scaling and Sustainability Center. She is a health services researcher who uses econometric methods to study how Medicaid policy and innovative care delivery models affect quality of care, access to care, and racial equity of care for Medicaid and other low-income, safety-net populations, especially those served by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Other research examines access to and use of health insurance. Recent work in these areas has focused on mental health, maternal health, and pediatric populations. Her work leverages large datasets, including national Medicaid claims data; All Payer Claims Data (APCD); electronic health record (EHR) data; and national and statewide patient survey data.

Dr. Cole is the Principal Investigator (PI) of national and statewide research studies that are funded by the NIH and private foundations. She leads an R01 that examines how Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models impact quality and equity of care for pregnant and postpartum patients. She is also PI on research examining how Medicaid ACOs address unmet social needs (e.g., food insecurity, housing insecurity) of patients. She leads other work that evaluates how rapid adoption of telehealth during COVID-19 mitigated, or exacerbated, disparities in quality of care among Medicaid-enrollees served by FQHCs, particularly among pregnant patients and patients with mental health needs.

Examples of other recent and ongoing work include examining the impact of Medicaid eligibility expansions on coverage, quality of care, access to care, and equity within low-income populations; evaluating the impact of integrating mental health care into primary care at FQHCs; and assessing the role of under-insurance (e.g., high deductible health plans) in access to care for low-income, racial/ethnic minoritized, and other marginalized populations.

Dr. Cole completed her PhD in Health Services Research at Brown University School of Public Health and received an MPH in Health Policy from Yale University School of Public Health. She previously worked in research consulting, where she worked with state and federal agencies on Medicaid policy and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She currently serves as co-editor-in-chief for the Journal of Ambulatory Care Management and serves on the editorial board of Health Services Research. Her work has been covered by outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, US News & World Report, The Hill, and Forbes.


Scaling TEAM UP in Massachusetts
06/01/2024 - 05/31/2028 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center Corporation Richard/Susan Smith


Improving Quality of Care for Low-Income Pregnant People through Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations: A Natural Experiment
08/28/2022 - 04/30/2027 (PI)
NIH/National Inst on Minority Health and Health Disparities
5R01MD017703-03

Initiative for Excellence in Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Black Communities
08/01/2021 - 12/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
Community Care Cooperative Gordon & Betty Moore


Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care in Urban Pediatrics (TEAM UP for Children)
11/01/2019 - 05/31/2025 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center Corporation Richard/Susan Smith


Implications of the US 340B Drug Pricing Program for the Availability, Quality of Care, and Equitability of Syndemic (HIV/SUD/MH) health Services (340B AQCESS)
09/01/2022 - 05/31/2024 (Key Person / Mentor)
HHS/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
1R36HS029147-01

Value and Equity of Telehealth for Low-Income Patients with Chronic Conditions at Federally Qualified Health Centers
01/01/2021 - 04/30/2023 (PI)
The Donaghue Foundation


Examining a newly developed equity-focused telehealth delivery model providing primary care for Medicaid enrollees with chronic conditions
12/15/2020 - 01/31/2023 (PI)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation


National estimates of the impact of the affordable care act on healthcare utilization, outcomes & quality among hispanics
12/01/2019 - 11/30/2022 (Subcontract PI)
Wake Forest University NIH NIMHD
5R01MD011594-05

Rhode Island Health Care Cost Analysis and Cost Growth Target-Setting
09/01/2019 - 04/15/2020 (Subcontract PI)
Brown University Peter G Peterson Fdn


Rhode Island Health Care Cost Analysis and Cost Growth Target-Setting
07/01/2018 - 06/30/2019 (Subcontract PI)
Brown University Peter G Peterson Fdn




Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Cole MB, Kim J, Gordon SH, Lasser KE, Ncube C, Patton E, Deen N, Carey K, Cabral H, Goldman AL, Ogden S, McCloskey L. Massachusetts Medicaid ACO Program May Have Improved Care Use And Quality For Pregnant And Postpartum Enrollees. Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Sep; 43(9):1209-1218.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39226509; DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00230;
     
  2. Levine AA, Cole MB, Michals AL, Wang N, Rubenstein E. Inequities in medicaid home- and community-based services waiver enrollment among people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities: A nationwide claims-based analysis. Disabil Health J. 2024 Aug 02; 101676.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39097466; DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101676;
     
  3. Kett P, Cole MB, Wright B, Frogner BK. Association of Federal COVID-19 Funding Distributions With Workforce and Capacity in Health Centers. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Aug 01. PMID: 39110545; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000509;
     
  4. Cole MB, Wright B, Kett PM, Johnson H, Staloff J, Frogner BK. COVID-19 Federal Funding To Health Centers: Tracking Distribution, Locations, And Patient Characteristics. Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Aug; 43(8):1190-1197. PMID: 39102596; DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00018;
     
  5. Nguyen KH, Giron NC, Cole MB. National Prevalence of Social Risk Factors at Federally Qualified Health Centers. JAMA Intern Med. 2024 Aug 01; 184(8):980-982.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38884949; PMCID: PMC11184494; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.1881;
     
  6. Nguyen KH, Giron NC, Cole MB. National Social Risk Factor Screening Rates Among Federally Qualified Health Center Patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Jun 27.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38937365; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08879-4;
     
  7. Carey K, Cole MB. Provision of Behavioral Health Services at Community Health Centers and Hospital Emergency Department Visits. Med Care. 2024 Aug 01; 62(8):538-542.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38889202; DOI: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000002022;
     
  8. Special Issue: The Role of Health Systems and Community Partners in Addressing Social Needs of Patients and Communities. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Jul-Sep 01; 47(3):111-112. PMID: 38771170; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000503;
     
  9. Lim K, Nguyen KH, Goutos D, Shafer PR, Buitron de la Vega P, Cole MB. The Association Between Hospital-Based Food Pantry Use and Subsequent Emergency Department Utilization Among Medicaid Patients With Diabetes. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Jul-Sep 01; 47(3):122-133.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38744317; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000499;
     
  10. Safon CB, McCloskey L, Estela MG, Gordon SH, Cole MB, Clark J. Access to perinatal doula services in Medicaid: a case analysis of 2 states. Health Aff Sch. 2024 Mar; 2(3):qxae023.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38756922; PMCID: PMC10986220; DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae023;
     
Showing 10 of 68 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 68 publications over 12 distinct years, with a maximum of 16 publications in 2024

YearPublications
20111
20122
20133
20151
20172
20183
20195
20208
20216
20229
202312
202416

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What Is Health Insurance? Understanding Health Care in 2024

Money Geek 3/27/2024

The Average Cost of Health Insurance in 2024

Money Geek 2/25/2024

Telehealth Ups Engagement for Medicaid Patients With Mental Health Diagnosis

HealthDay 11/15/2022

First They Get Long COVID, Then They Lose Their Health Care

WebMD 10/13/2022

Federal health centers administer most COVID-19 vaccines to minorities

Healio 1/13/2022

FQHCs have played a key role in enabling COVID-19 vaccine equity among people of color

News Medical 1/10/2022

Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion Helped Americans' Blood Pressure

US News & World Report 9/13/2021

State juggles vaccine distribution as fewer online slots frustrate eligible residents

The Boston Globe 3/4/2021

New BU Lab Studies Medicaid, Where Racism, Poverty, and COVID-19 Meet

BU Today 2/17/2021

New BU Lab Studies Medicaid, Where Racism, Poverty, and COVID-19 Meet

BU Today 2/17/2021

Here’s four reasons why your health insurance will go up in 2021

Boston 25 News 8/6/2020

How Insurance Plans Keep Black Patients From Cancer Care

US News & World Report: 6/29/2020

2018–2019 Career Development Awards Honor Eight Junior Faculty

BU Today 9/13/2018
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Medicaid
Health Policy
Health Services Research
Health Services Evaluations
Economic Evaluations
Quality of Health Care
Coverage, Insurance
Access to Health Care
Disparities, Health Care
Disparities, Health Status
Equity, Health
Social Determinants of Health
Primary Care
Low-Income Populations
Safety-net Clinic
Safety net Hospitals
Reform, Health Care
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Causality

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
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  • Career Mentor
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Project Mentor
  • Research / Scholarly Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:

715 Albany Street
Boston MA 02118
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