Biography at time of fellowship: Mary Takach, R.N., M.P.H., is a senior program director at the National Academy for State Health Policy where she focuses on issues related to primary care, patient-centered medical homes, federally qualified health centers, and delivery system reform. Takach directs grants that support states advancing Medicaid medical home initiatives, that strengthen partnerships between Medicaid agencies and safety- net providers to improve care for vulnerable populations, and that help state policymakers engage in patient- centered outcomes research. Takach has worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant and in a wide variety of clinical settings as a registered nurse. Her work has been published in journals such as Health Affairs. She holds a master’s in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a bachelor of science in nursing with honors from Northeastern University.
Project: Primary Health Care Organizations in Australia and the United States: Comparing Capacity to Function as Patient-Centered Medical Homes
The objective of Takach’s fellowship research project is to inform primary care redesign efforts in Australia and the United States. She will conduct a comparative analysis of the emerging roles of publicly financed Primary Health Care Organizations (PHCOs) in Australia and in U.S. (in Colorado, Oregon, North Carolina, and Vermont, among other states). Takach will examine how PHCOs are advancing strategies, including incentives and infrastructure approaches aligned with patient-centered medical home principles, to better support primary care physicians in delivering efficient, high-quality, and coordinated care to vulnerable populations. Takach is placed at the University of Queensland and her fellowship advisor is Professor Claire Jackson.
Contact: [email protected]
Selected Publications:
"The Value of Up-Skilling," The Health Advocate, February 2015.
Blogs:
https://nashp.org/pilots-in-colorado-and-western-australia-integrate-paramedics-into-care-team/
http://www.nashp.org/blog/australian-policymakers-taking-cues-shark-tank-disruptive-innovation
