Kala E. Ladenheim, PhD, MSPH, CPH

Program Manager
Medical Care Development (MCD) Public Health
11 Parkwood Drive
Augusta, ME
USA 04330

Biographical Sketch: Kala Ladenheim is a Senior Researcher at Medical Care Development, Inc. and an independent Maine-based health policy expert DBA Maine Health Policy dot Info. Past significant leadership roles in Maine include President/CEO of the Maine Center for Public Health and Executive Director of the Maine Health Policy Advisory Council. Recent and current Maine projects include a study of the interplay of financing and public health infrastructure development in Maine, a study of the relationship between oral and systemic health, a senior driver safety project, an innovative rural microwellness program, and providing policy support and evaluation for a regional telehealth resource center. Ladenheim is a national expert on state-level policy-making related to insurance coverage, quality and health information technology. In the course of 15 years at the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Intergovernmental Health Policy Project, she worked with state lawmakers around the country to adapt policies to improve access and quality of care for their local environments. Her work on health system development has emphasized helping policy makers use best evidence to make decisions and how to present information so it can be useful for policy, and she has taught graduate-level health administration students how to use data strategically for policy development. She has conducted multi-state and 50-state comparative analyses on topics as varied as health insurance, quality reporting, health planning and certificate of need, Medicaid cost containment, state initiatives relate to health information technology development and financing, and hospital-borne infections.

Papers:
5151.0 Healthy Maine streets: An innovative partnership led by downtown development districts