Using ‘Big Data’ to Identify ‘Hotspots of Need’ and Key Drivers of Service Utilization in New York

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michelle Munson, Professor, NYU Silver School of Social Work

Collaborators: Dr. Sadiq Patel (Harvard University), Dr. Molly Finnerty (NYU Grossman School of Medicine/New York State Office of Mental Health), Dr. Deborah Layman (New York State Office of Mental Health/Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene), Qingxian Chen (New York State Office of Mental Health)

Dates of award: 9/1/2022 – 8/31/2023

Amount of award: $70,000

Study description: 

The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare gaps in our healthcare system, and young adult behavioral health is among our most challenging crises. When there is unequal availability and utilization of mental health services in communities, there will be great divides in life outcomes. Support for this project will catapult a team from the Silver School of Social Work, the Grossman School of Medicine and the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH) who together will harness ‘big data’ to begin to address the unmet mental health need among young adults. Specifically, the project will leverage the PSYCKES platform’s large integrated mental health and Medicaid claims database, to identify ‘hotspot’ communities of need, where there are high rates of young adults with serious mental illness and low levels of utilization of professional services. Our project will use both statistical and machine learning methods to identify ‘drivers’ of mental health care. Findings will inform future research to reduce social inequities among some of New York’s most disadvantaged citizens. To that end, our team will use project findings as the groundwork for grant applications in partnership with the emergent communities, and to advance consumer- facing technologies such as ‘MyCHOIS’, a system that provides direct access and messaging for patients to their health information and real-time resources in moments of need. Finally, results will inform state leadership in their policy and program efforts to address gaps in services.

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