The Impact of Research on Program Success

The creation of a social program like the Maryland Medicaid Diabetes Care Program (DCP) represents a major service delivery and policy effort that deserves our attention. In the context of health care reform, evaluating such a program represents a serious challenge. Program evaluations for large-scale service delivery programs, like the one described by Mary Stuart, have been plagued historically by methodological, substantive, and, sometimes, political problems. The program originators who create, develop, and oversee the implementation of their work often do not have the resources, time, or research skills to evaluate the program carefully. Moreover, a series of issues often compromises or complicates even the most optimally staffed and funded evaluation efforts.

Author(s): Sherrie H. Kaplan; Sheldon Greenfield

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Volume 72, Issue 4 (pages 695–699)
Published in 1994