Office of Border Health
New Mexico Department of Health - Division of Policy and Performance
Research and Assessments
The Office of Border Health uses science-based evaluations and assessments:
to confirm the efficacy and impact of border health activities it supports;
to assess environmental health risks of natural phenomena and human-induced processes;
as a basis for determining promising future initiatives; and
to provide policy guidance for improving healthcare access and improvement in health outcomes for border and immigrant populations.
NM-OBH seeks partnerships with universities, specialized research centers and policy and advocacy organizations, and with private professional consultants to carry out applied research and evaluations of ongoing activities. NM-OBH also collaborates with other divisions within the New Mexico Department of Health in the development of field-based assessments in areas of epidemiology and surveillance of infectious disease, environmental health, innovative approaches to improve access to health care, and in the efficacy of health promotion and outreach methods used with border and immigrant subpopulations. One such studies was carried out in elation to the impact of toll-free telephone based nurse teletriage as a basis for increasing access to health care:
Assessment of the efficacy, impact, and cost-benefit of the NurseAdvice New Mexico nurse triage call-in program within the catchment area of Gila Regional Medical Center in Southwestern New Mexico. 