We take great pride in providing clients with the highest quality of research and reports on time and within budget. Our combined dedication to client objectives and impeccable integrity has earned us a reputation as a trusted, reliable partner.
Explore our Projects Learn about our Services and Capabilities
From multi-year task orders with a team of subcontractors to smaller-scale individual research efforts, L&M has led dozens of research projects from government agencies, as well as private clients. See below for a selection of our projects.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), August 2014 through August 2029
L&M, along with partner AcademyHealth, provides strategic, analytical, and program support for various CMS Office of Minority Health (OMH) initiatives. Building on the evidence base and resources the team created under a prior contract with CMS OMH, L&M assists health care provider organizations, health plans, states, territories, and Tribal Nations in pursuing programs, initiatives, and capacity building for advancing health equity and reducing health disparities. Specifically, L&M supports OMH by providing capacity- and infrastructure-building for minority-serving institutions, including the development of a learning collaborative; supporting CMS OMH’s health equity technical assistance function; conducting literature reviews and key informant interviews; developing manuscripts about interventions to advance health equity; interviewing consumers about their experiences related to health equity and the burden of accessing quality health care; synthesizing key stakeholder feedback; and analyzing population-specific information to gain a better understanding of stakeholders’ challenges, questions, promising practices, and recommendations for CMS.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), September 2021 through September 2024
L&M performs qualitative and quantitative research to deliver critical consumer perspectives that shape CMS’s outreach and education strategies for the annual Open Enrollment Period and other vital Medicare programs and services. The team’s comprehensive approach includes testing storyboards and messages to boost awareness and engagement with CMS programs, conducting quantitative surveys to measure campaign effectiveness, and performing formative research to better understand Medicare beneficiaries’ perspectives on a range of Medicare topics. Projects involve both English- and Spanish-language research. L&M synthesizes research findings and insights across population groups and recommends strategies for executing effective outreach and educational campaigns.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), September 2021 through September 2024
L&M conducts qualitative research to offer CMS valuable consumer insights that guide the development and improvement of Medicare decision support resources. Decision support resources are tools or services designed to help individuals, health care providers, and organizations make informed decisions about Medicare options and benefits. This research involves a variety of methods including usability testing, in-depth interviews, focus groups, small group discussions, and dyads/triads. It also involves hosting online forums and panels, conducting literature reviews, environmental scans, and desk audits, as well as performing competitive analysis of industry practices and service blueprints. Additionally, we conduct secondary analysis of previous user research studies. L&M’s research audiences include Medicare beneficiaries (aged 65+ and/or disabled), individuals approaching Medicare eligibility (“coming-of-agers”); informal caregivers; community partners such as the State Health Insurance & Assistance Program (SHIPs); minority and disparate populations; and Spanish-speaking individuals. L&M integrates findings from these diverse groups to recommend strategies for creating user-friendly and appealing decision support tools and materials.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), June 2019 through May 2027
L&M, with partners Tantus Technologies and Mathematica, provides support services and technical assistance to CMS by triaging, reviewing, and summarizing public comments received in response to Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) and other public comment cycles. L&M has supported various public comment periods, including the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule, Interim Final Rules with Comment periods (IFCs), Part C/Part D regulations, the Advance Notice, and the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective System (OPPS)/Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System proposed rule. During each comment period, L&M triages, reviews and summarizes up to tens of thousands of comments (40,000+ for the PFS; 17,000+ for the Advance Notice and Part C/D regulations; and 2,000+ for the IFCs). Additional responsibilities include managing CMS’ resource mailbox to process, track, and respond to inquiries year-round. This also involves providing technical assistance in reviewing preamble and regulations text and updating existing CMS publications and sub-regulatory guidance.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), September 2019 through September 2027
L&M, with partner NORC at the University of Chicago, supports CMS efforts to monitor and improve the performance of Medicare Advantage (Part C) and prescription drug (Part D) programs. L&M ensures continuous oversight of Part D sponsors’ pharmacy networks through comprehensive quarterly geographic analyses. The team focuses on both standard and preferred cost sharing pharmacies (PCSPs) within plan networks. We evaluate total costs for commonly-filled Part D prescription drugs, and assess disparities for such drugs based on convenient access standards, pharmacy desert distributions, beneficiary characteristics, beneficiary cost sharing patterns, and prescription fill patterns. Additionally, our team identifies and characterizes racial/ethnic, geographic and other inequities in enrollment into higher-quality Medicare Advantage plans. L&M’s data collection and analyses inform CMS’ policymaking and monitoring initiatives, focusing on emerging areas within the Part C and Part D programs.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), September 2021 through August 2024
L&M supports CMS outreach and education efforts for the “Health Insurance Marketplace”, a consumer-facing website that helps individuals and families find and enroll in affordable health insurance. Our team provides actionable insights about the information needs of “Marketplace-eligible” consumers. Ongoing activities include:
The results of our research culminate in recommendations that assist CMS in developing and enhancing tools for the Marketplace.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), August 2018 through August 2023
L&M, along with partner NORC at the University of Chicago, assisted the State Demonstrations Group (SDG) in the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) to evaluate and monitor Medicaid Section 1115 demonstrations. Section 1115 of the Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects to allow states flexibility to test unique approaches to program design and administration that are aimed at enhancing beneficiary access to quality services. The team delivered technical and analytical support by monitoring and evaluating state demonstration program reports, evaluation designs, evaluation reports, implementation protocols. We assessed monitoring and payment protocols, along with other deliverables, to provide recommendations. Our focus was on ensuring the comprehensiveness, scientific and technical merits, and adherence to CMS requirements.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), March 2019 through March 2021
L&M provided scientific, analytical, technical assistance, dissemination, and logistical support to AHRQ and the multi-stakeholder grantee teams in the Pediatric Quality Measures Program (PQMP). PQMP was established to improve the quality of care delivered to children covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by implementing newly developed measures across state, health plan, health system and provider levels. In collaboration with AHRQ, L&M provided analytical support to grantee teams through an established learning collaborative. Our team answered key research questions identified by AHRQ and developed quality improvement (QI) toolkits alongside grantee teams. Using an Implementation Science framework, we documented contextual factors influcencing QI efforts. Additionally, L&M delivered general dissemination support and led the initiative to publish research articles and commentaries in an Academic Pediatrics journal supplement.
