Fact Sheet #1: How Family-Centered is MaineCare?

Parent reports on family experiences of care can provide health plans, systems and providers with crucial information on their performance in the domain of family-centeredness. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) conducts an annual survey to gather this kind of information for MaineCare, the state of Maine’s Medicaid and Child Health Insurance (CHIP) program

Fact Sheet #2: How Do MaineCare Providers Perform on Childhood Screening and Prevention?

The annual Survey of Children Served by MaineCare, which collects a wealth of data on the experiences of MaineCare families, examines the extent to which MaineCare providers follow Bright Futures guidelines during well-child visits. This fact sheet presents findings on Bright Futures adherence from the 2013 survey

A new terrestrial palaeoenvironmental record from the Bering Land Bridge and context for human dispersal

Palaeoenvironmental records from the now-submerged Bering Land Bridge (BLB) covering the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present are needed to document changing environments and connections with the dispersal of humans into North America. Moreover, terrestrially based records of environmental changes are needed in close proximity to the re-establishment of circulation between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans following the end of the last glaciation to test palaeo-climate models for the high latitudes. We present the first terrestrial temperature and hydrologic reconstructions from the LGM to the present from the BLB’s south-central margin. We find that the timing of the earliest unequivocal human dispersals into Alaska, based on archaeological evidence, corresponds with a shift to warmer/wetter conditions on the BLB between 14 700 and 13 500 years ago associated with the early Bølling/Allerød interstadial (BA). These environmental changes could have provided the impetus for eastward human dispersal at that time, from Western or central Beringia after a protracted human population standstill. Our data indicate substantial climate-induced environmental changes on the BLB since the LGM, which would potentially have had significant influences on megafaunal and human biogeography in the region. © 2018 The Authors

Fact Sheet #3: How Do Parents Rate Dental Services for Children in MaineCare?

The annual Survey of Children Served by MaineCare, which collects an abundance of data on the experiences of MaineCare families, provides important information on how parents evaluate the dental care that their children receive

2013 Survey of Children Served by MaineCare

These survey results help identify areas for improvement for future initiatives both for the MaineCare program and for providers serving this population. Key Findings: MaineCare higher than the national average on most patient experience measures. Significant improvements in MaineCare provider/family communication and care coordination. MaineCare lower than national average on customer service, availability of treatment choices, and care coordination among providers. Patient experience generally similar for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. Many MaineCare children have special health care needs. 35% of children enrolled in MaineCare have special health care needs, according to the 2013 survey. Experience of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) generally similar to other MaineCare children. In addition to CAHPS, Maine’s annual survey includes supplemental questions that focus on priority areas for the Department including the degree to which providers discuss recommended preventive topics at well-child visits, the prevalence of childhood obesity ant tobacco use/second-hand smoke exposure among children served by MaineCare, oral health access and unmet need, the affordability of Child Health Program (CHP) premiums, and availability/access to employer-sponsored health insurance. For nearly three quarters of MaineCare children, physicians discussed physical activity, nutrition/diet, avoidin