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 and co-director of the BU Medicaid Policy Lab. 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. Most of this 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; understanding the impact of COVID-19 on FQHCs and the role of FQHCs in enabling equitable access to care during the pandemic; 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.


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
5R01MD017703-02

Initiative for Excellence in Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Black Communities
08/01/2021 - 07/31/2024 (Subcontract PI)
Community Care Cooperative Gordon & Betty Moore


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

Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care in Urban Pediatrics (TEAM UP for Children)
11/01/2019 - 05/31/2024 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center Corporation Richard/Susan Smith


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. 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 Affairs Scholar. 2024; 2(3):qxae023. View Publication
  2. Care Access, Care Delivery, and Peace Building through Health. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Apr-Jun 01; 47(2):49-50. PMID: 38422216; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000492;
     
  3. Wilson IB, Cole MB, Lee Y, Shireman TI, Justice AC, Rahman M. The relationship of age and comorbid conditions to hospital and nursing home days in Medicaid recipients with HIV. AIDS. 2024 Feb 22. PMID: 38411618; DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003870;
     
  4. Cole MB, Strackman BW, Lasser KE, Lin MY, Paasche-Orlow MK, Hanchate AD. Medicaid Expansion and Preventable Emergency Department Use by Race/Ethnicity. Am J Prev Med. 2024 Feb 10.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38342480; DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.02.002;
     
  5. Levengood TW, Conti RM, Cahill S, Cole MB. Assessing the Impact of the 340B Drug Pricing Program: A Scoping Review of the Empirical, Peer-Reviewed Literature. Milbank Q. 2024 Jan 28.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38282421; DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.12691;
     
  6. Carey K, Cole MB. Mental health care provision in community health centers and hospital emergency department utilization. Health Serv Res. 2024 Apr; 59(2):e14283.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38243709; PMCID: PMC10915469; DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14283;
     
  7. From the Editors. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Jan-Mar 01; 47(1):1-2. PMID: 37994508; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000487;
     
  8. Safon CB, McCloskey L, Gordon SH, Cole MB, Clark J. Medicaid Reimbursement for Doula Care: Policy Considerations From a Scoping Review. Med Care Res Rev. 2023 Dec 20; 10775587231215221.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38124279; DOI: 10.1177/10775587231215221;
     
  9. Staloff J, Cole MB, Frogner B, Sabbatini AK. National and State-Level Trends in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services at Federally Qualified Health Centers, 2012-2019. J Community Health. 2024 Apr; 49(2):343-354. PMID: 37985556; DOI: 10.1007/s10900-023-01293-7;
     
  10. Nguyen KH, Cole MB. Editorial: Meeting the Needs of Federally Qualified Health Center Patients Following the Public Health Emergency Unwinding. J Ambul Care Manage. 2024 Jan-Mar 01; 47(1):43-47.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37994513; DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000485;
     
Showing 10 of 59 results. Show More

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

Bar chart showing 59 publications over 12 distinct years, with a maximum of 12 publications in 2023

YearPublications
20111
20122
20133
20151
20172
20183
20195
20208
20216
20229
202312
20247


Recent (within 3 months)

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
Older

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

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