Accounting for uncertainty in policy decision making: Improving access to pediatric dental care.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To introduce a statistical inference framework for policy decision making on access to pediatric dental care.

Data sources

Secondary data were collected for the state of Colorado for year 2019.

Study design

The access model was an optimization model, matching the demand (patients) and supply (providers) of dental care. Sampling distributions of model inputs were specified using hierarchical Bayesian models, with hyperparameters informed by prior information derived from multiple data sources. Simultaneous inference was applied to identify areas for access improvement. The model was applied to make inference on the pediatric dental care in Colorado, accounting for financial access, differentiated into public (Medicaid and CHIP), private (commercial and out-of

SUBMITTER: Curry S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8186474 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature