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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
FACULTY: Rain Henderson
TEAM: Charlotte Borgers, Abby Briggs, Caroline Shore, Abe Sinay-Smith
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency administering public health insurance programs, through its Region II Office in NYC, focuses on strengthening health systems across New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This initiative matters due to the escalating threats of severe storms and extreme heat to healthcare access in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where systemic vulnerabilities exacerbate climate-related health risks. The Capstone team analyzed how the territories’ legal, historical, and geographic contexts intersect with weather-related health challenges. The team synthesized academic research, policy documents, and insights from interviews with healthcare and policy experts familiar with the U.S. Caribbean to address this. Their findings highlighted actionable recommendations for CMS, including optimizing Medicaid funding, mitigating physician shortages, managing chronic diseases, and fortifying critical infrastructure. These recommendations aim to bolster the CMS Rural Health Council’s mission to advance equitable health outcomes in vulnerable communities.
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital
FACULTY: Rain Henderson
TEAM: Zixin (Cindy) Guan, Julia Ivanishchak, Praewa (Wawa) Kulatnam
NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital (LOH), a nationally ranked leader in orthopedic and neurological care, provides world-class inpatient and outpatient services in Manhattan. As part of its strategic growth, LOH is exploring a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in Westchester County to improve patient access, expand its geographic reach, and adapt to evolving reimbursement and operational demands. This initiative matters because it addresses barriers for patients traveling to Manhattan while positioning LOH to meet industry trends and enhance care efficiency. The Capstone team was asked to assess the ASC’s feasibility, identify surgical cases and providers suitable for transition, and propose operational, financial, and workforce models for success. The team analyzed financial data, surgical volumes, resource utilization, market trends, stakeholder feedback, and site visits and consultations to do this. Final recommendations included a surgeon block schedule and a strategic business expansion plan to guide LOH’s ASC development, ensuring alignment with its growth objectives.
NYU Langone Department Of Emergency Medicine
NYU Langone Department Of Emergency Medicine
FACULTY: Rain Henderson
TEAM: Ava Binao Guo, Kailing Xiao, Yonathan Debessai
The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone operates as an independent academic department, treating over 400,000 patients annually, and its Prevention Education Partnership (PEP) has educated over 10,000 learners since 2015. The opioid overdose crisis necessitates community-level interventions to save lives. The Capstone team was tasked with creating a School-Based Opioid Overdose Preparedness Program for NYU Langone’s Family Health Centers School Health Program and affiliated high schools. They collaborated with PEP to develop training sessions, naloxone distribution protocols, and emergency response plans for school staff and students. The final program was successfully piloted, recommending expanded implementation to strengthen overdose preparedness in school communities.
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