Reports from Harvard Medical School Provide New Insights into Managed Care (Health system-community partnerships in a Medicaid nutrition and housing program, 2020-2023: a mixed-methods evaluation): Managed Care

2026 AUG 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Health systems are partnering with social service organizations (SSOs) to establish health-related social needs (HRSN) programs, yet best practices have not been established. This study assessed the implementation of a partnership between one accountable care organization (ACO) and SSOs in Massachusetts’ Medicaid Flexible Services Program (FSP) from 2020 to 2023 to address food and housing insecurity.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Harvard Medical School, “To be FSP-eligible, individuals needed to be in the ACO, have food or housing insecurity, and meet specific health criteria. Quantitative measures of reach, enrollment, and services were integrated with findings from interviews with ACO ( = 12) and SSO ( = 11) staff. Overall, 15.1% of 16 289 FSP-eligible adults and 11.8% of 5476 FSP-eligible children were enrolled. Nutrition enrollments increased over time, but housing enrollments remained low. ACO and SSO staff described positive impacts, including tailored support for patients’ needs, SSO organizational growth, and understanding of how SSOs can partner with health care. Implementation challenges included complex contracts, administrative burden, and housing shortages. State funding for SSO infrastructure, cross-sector data sharing, workflow simplification, and ACO-SSO communication improved efficiency and reduced burden. The ACO-SSO partnerships expanded resources to address beneficiaries’ HRSN.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Understanding factors that contribute to success on both sides of the partnership can inform future HRSN programs.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Health system-community partnerships in a Medicaid nutrition and housing program, 2020-2023: a mixed-methods evaluation. Health Affairs Scholar, 2026;4(8).

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Vicki Fung, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Additional authors for this research include Jessica L. McCurley, Douglas E. Levy, Sydney McGovern, Christine Vogeli, Cheryl R. Clark and Anne N. Thorndike.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag179. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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