Volume 53 | Number 3 | June 2018

Abstract List

Katherine D. Vickery M.D., M.Sc., Nathan D. Shippee Ph.D., Peter Bodurtha M.P.P., Laura M. Guzman‐Corrales M.P.H., Elyse Reamer M.P.H., Dana Soderlund M.P.H., Stephanie Abel R.N., Danielle Robertshaw M.D., Lillian Gelberg M.D., M.S.P.H.


Objective

To design and test the validity of a method to identify homelessness among Medicaid enrollees using mailing address data.


Data Sources/Study Setting

Enrollment and claims data on Medicaid expansion enrollees in Hennepin and Ramsey counties who also provided self‐reported information on their current housing situation in a psychosocial needs assessment.


Study Design

Construction of address‐based indicators and comparison with self‐report data.


Principal Findings

Among 1,677 enrollees, 427 (25 percent) self‐reported homelessness, of whom 328 (77 percent) had at least one positive address indicator. Depending on the type of addresses included in the indicator, sensitivity to detect self‐reported homelessness ranged from 30 to 76 percent and specificity from 79 to 97 percent.


Conclusions

An address‐based indicator can identify a large proportion of Medicaid enrollees who are experiencing homelessness. This approach may be of interest to researchers, states, and health systems attempting to identify homeless populations.