Policy Integrity LLC specializes in the development and evaluation of health policy. We use data, research, critical thinking, and communication to help clients make informed decisions and develop sound policy options.  PI supports its clients through three essential services:

• Data Acquisition and Analysis – Health care organizations tend to suffer from “data overload” – they amass huge volumes of data yet cannot distill the information to support decision-making or policy development. PI analyzes data systems, validates content, and develops summary databases to help clients make sense of their data and produce more timely and reliable analyses and reports.

PI harnesses the power of numerous data sets in its work.  We specialize in Vermont’s Household Health Insurance Survey (VHHIS) and the state’s hospital discharge data system.

• Policy Option Development – Sound policy development includes understanding the current state of affairs, identifying potential changes, and evaluating their consequences – human and financial alike. PI specializes in evidence-driven exploration, using models to minimize preconceptions and biases.

Models are an essential tool in the “what-if” process. They help us see how changes in policy parameters can change results. Yet models can often be difficult to use (an undocumented multi-page spreadsheet) or “black boxes” whose secrets are known only by the initiated. PI specializes in models that are transparent and designed for non-technical users. 

• Communications – Among the most challenging aspects of policy development are dialogue and explanation. How does the system currently operate? How were new policy options developed? How reliable are the projected results? What are the most important factors in achieving desired goals? PI specializes in explaining policy to a wide range of audiences. We help organizations understand their audiences and develop tools, verbal and visual, to explain policy and foster an atmosphere where questions and discussion are welcomed.

Policy Integrity was founded by Steven Kappel.  Steve has been a leader in health policy for more than 25 years.  His accomplishments include the original design of Vermont’s hospital discharge data set, design of an end-user data system based on health insurance claims, numerous publications about Vermont’s health care system, management of the Vermont Family Health Insurance Survey, frequent legislative testimony, and most recently, development of models used in the design and implementation of Catamount Health.  He has worked for the Vermont Department of Health, Vermont BlueCross BlueShield, the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration, the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, and the Vermont legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office.

Steve is an adjunct instructor in health policy at the University of Vermont.  He has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from UVM and is a graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute.