Darrell Gaskin, Ph.D.

Recent Accomplishments

Gaskin’s research focuses on access to care for vulnerable populations, including children with special health care needs, healthcare disparities, and safety net hospitals. Gaskin has published several articles and book chapters and made numerous presentations in each of these areas. In the last few years, he (with his co-author Jean Mitchell) has published five articles in leading health services research journals (HSR, Inquiry, Medical Care) on the effects of Medicaid managed care on access to care for children with special healthcare needs. He and his colleagues have found that ongoing case management in the partial capitated managed care plan in the District of Colombia improved access to care and use of services for low income special needs children. Gaskin’s latest work in healthcare disparities shows the importance of residential segregation as a determinant of racial disparities in medical care use. He has presented this work at scientific sessions during the 2006 International Health Economics Association and the 2006 American Public Health Association meetings. Gaskin has contributed significantly to the literature on safety net hospitals. His article (co-authored with Drs. Hadley and Freeman), “Are Safety Net Hospitals Losing Medicaid Maternity Patients??won the Academy Health 2002 Article-of-the-Year Award. This article provides evidence that increased hospital competition and managed care penetration encouraged non-safety net hospitals to compete with safety net hospitals for potentially profitable low risk Medicaid maternity patients. This competition jeopardized an important patient revenue source that safety net hospitals use to cover costs of uninsured and under-insured patients.

Funded Research

Gaskin is currently P.I. on two grants on racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of hospital care funded by the Commonwealth Fund. This project has three aims: 1) to determine whether disparities exist because minority and low income patients use lower quality providers; 2) to identify organizational and financial factors associated with providing high quality care to minority and low income patients; and 3) to identify best practices of hospitals that provide high quality care to minority and low income patients. Gaskin’s work on children with special healthcare needs has been funded by the NICHD, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health.

Future Plans

During the next few years, Gaskin will continue his research on racial and socioeconomic disparities in the quality of hospital care, particularly focusing on the role of safety net hospitals. Also, he will continue his work on the association between residential segregation and disparities in healthcare use. Gaskin is also interested in studying provider sources of healthcare disparities. He is currently developing a study to look at the role of physicians in disparities in cardiac care. Gaskin will also continue his work on access to care for children with special needs. In particular, he is interested in exploring special needs children’s use of school-based counseling services.