Since the beginning, we have striven to measure our accomplishments in time, finances and outcomes. Our commitment to improving the health of adolescents has led us to conduct evaluation research to assess the impact of what we do. The evaluation projects were in-house, and even though they were small and lacked the rigor of large scale, third-party research, we began to observe promising outcomes. Armed with this information, the Atlantic Philanthropies—impressed with our work—rewarded us with a grant for a five-year, rigorous scientific study conducted by ICF Macro. We anticipate that the emergence of these findings will authenticate our work and allow us to “place our stake in the ground” as a highly effective model.

The five-year third-party evaluation by ICF Macro

Internationally renowned ICF Macro was selected to perform a rigorous, independent evaluation of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center to help us determine the effectiveness, appropriateness, and policy implications for our service model. ICF Macro has designed a multi- component, longitudinal evaluation that will answer these questions through a quasi-experimental, multi-modal, longitudinal study comparing 650 adolescents enrolled in MSAHC services with 650 similar adolescents drawn from the surrounding community who are not receiving our services.

The evaluation study will answer the following critical question: Do adolescents who receive care at MSAHC have better health compared to adolescents receiving care elsewhere? The outcomes measured among young people will include:

• Rates of sexually transmitted infections
• Rates of pregnancy
• Rates of other risk behaviors
• Participation in violence, thrill seeking behaviors, and drug use
• Well-being, including their sense of personal efficacy, optimism and coping skills
• Frequency of undiagnosed conditions including vision or hearing problems, or mental health issues
• How successfully they manage chronic conditions when present

A set of studies of the impact of the Affordable Care Act on Adolescent Health Services and Funding: Conducted by the National Adolescent Health Information and Innovation Center at the University of California (SF)
Our evaluation includes a series of policy studies looking at adolescent services and financing in the context of health care finance reform.

Policy report 1: “Financing Health Care Services at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center: Overview of Findings from 2010” provides an overview of the health insurance status of adolescents and young adults in the United States. The report also provides information on health care financing options for adolescents and young adults in New York State generally and at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center specifically. Read full report

Policy report 2: "A Shifting Health Landscape: Planning for the Implementation of Health Care Reform in New York" is based on interviews with key stakeholders, such as leaders on adolescent medicine, policy, and commissioners of health, focuses on adolescents and young adults. Five areas are discussed – Implementation Requirements; System Preparedness and Capacity; Financing; the Preparation of the Individual Consumer; and the Contribution of Adolescent Centered Health Systems. Read full report