Center for Healthcare Policy and Research | UC Davis Health

Research, education and policy

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Research spotlight

Can telehealth help patients stick with Buprenorphine for opioid addiction?

A clinical trial led by our researchers aims to improve the long-term use of buprenorphine, a critical medication for treating patients with opioid use disorder. The new study focuses on patients prescribed buprenorphine in emergency departments, where there is a need for effective follow-up care.

The $6.4 million study is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). It will explore the efficacy of telehealth compared to in-person follow-up appointments. The project is designed to address barriers that many patients face, including low income, lack of transportation and social instability.

A nurse in an emergency department holds a phone in one hand and a clipboard in the other hand.
  • May 2, 2025

    CHPR's new home: UC Davis’ Aggie Square formally inaugurated

    The UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research moved into its new home at Aggie Square. The innovation district brings together UC Davis' cutting-edge research with private-sector companies and start-ups. 

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  • April 10, 2025

    UC Davis Health uses AI models to leave no patient behind

    The Center for Healthcare Policy and Research brought together a team of experts from the population health, information technology, and equity teams at UC Davis. They created a population health AI predictive model. Its algorithm is programmed to identify patients who may benefit from care management services to deal with health problems before they lead to emergency department visits or hospitalization.

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  • March 17, 2025

    Community clinic achieved marked improvement in system-based tobacco cessation

    WellSpace Health, a community clinic in the Sacramento area, launched a quality improvement project to advance “system-based” tobacco cessation in partnership with the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research.

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  • February 14, 2025

    CHPR to develop better electronic clinical quality measures for Medicare program

    Over the next five years, the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research will develop and validate new electronic clinical quality measures using electronic health records data from UC Davis Health and the UC Health Data Warehouse.

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  • January 23, 2025

    Medi-Cal members have tobacco treatment disparities by chronic disease status

    Researchers at the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research studied California’s 1.5 million smokers who are covered by California’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, to understand tobacco treatment disparities.

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  • December 2, 2024

    Applied methods discussion group starting in 2025

    The UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research in partnership with the Division of Health Policy and Management in the Department of Public Health Sciences will launch a new Applied Methods Journal Club in 2025. Participants will discuss the latest innovative methods in applied health services research.

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  • November 6, 2024

    The value of a negative result

    Spinal imaging for back pain may not be needed, but patients might still ask for it. A program designed to help clinicians engage patients with back pain did not help reduce imaging rates, found a study from the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research.

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  • November 1, 2024

    UC Davis convenes experts to seek solutions to national primary care crisis

    The Center for Healthcare Policy and Research hosted a who’s who of state and national thought leaders and physicians eager to improve the declining state of primary care.

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