The Center for Health Policy (CHP) was established in 2002 to foster dialogue and analysis of health policy issues important to the welfare of Missouri citizens. CHP is co-directed by Karen Edison, MD and Kristofer Hagglund, PhD, both of whom served as Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellows in the U.S. Senate. The University of Missouri, recognizing its mission as a land-grant institution and responsibility as the academic flagship of Missouri, has established CHP as an objective, nonpartisan center of excellence committed to addressing questions of access to quality and affordable health care.
Since its inception, CHP has been responsive to trends and emergent issues in health care by providing objective analysis, education, and communication. CHP’s activities strive to incorporate the interests and concerns of all stakeholders and to enhance an ongoing awareness of the rapidly changing health care environment.
Focus areas being pursued by CHP include:
- Improve the quality and efficiency of MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid program,
- Improve health literacy,
- Reduce health disparities,
- Ensure adequate health care workforce in Missouri.
- Expand health insurance coverage in both the private and public sectors,
- Expand rural and urban access to services otherwise not available locally via innovative interventions such as telehealth, and
- Reduce childhood obesity.
All activities and projects are guided by the principles of collaboration, issue awareness and education, translation of research into practice, policy formation, and strategic communication. CHP strategies include education initiatives, summits, conferences, research, outreach to communities, and multimodal communication. All efforts are multidisciplinary and supported by collaborators from academia, public and private communities, interest groups, community partners, state and local agents, and elected officials. CHP’s guiding principles and activities fully embody the values of the University of Missouri: Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, and Excellence.
The Center for Health Policy is dedicated to improving the health of all Missourians by bridging public policy and health care through objective research, policy analysis, and outreach.
