Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Analysis

Description: North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK) is a child-centered health service delivery and state payment model aimed at improving the quality of care and reducing expenditures for 97,000 children insured by Medicaid or CHIP. In 2023, NC InCK launched its Alternative Payment Model (APM), which financially incentivizes pediatric primary care providers to administer 12 interventions during well child visits to improve kindergarten readiness among patients from birth to the sixth birthday. The Primary Care Kindergarten Readiness Promotion Bundle (K-Readiness Promotion Bundle) includes six universal interventions (1, conduct well visit; 2, social-emotional screening; 3, hearing and vision screening; 4, office-based literacy promotion; 5, developmental screening; 6, fluoride varnish) and six needs-based interventions (7, referral to Pre-K; 8, referral to Children’s Development Services Agency; 9, referral to Exceptional Children’s program; 10, provision of/referral to early childhood mental health services; 11, provision of/referral to parenting support program; 12, referral to a community-based literacy program). The effect of the K-Readiness Promotion Bundle on academic preparedness is unknown. We aim to examine the early impact of the K-Readiness Promotion Bundle on the Early Learning Inventory (ELI) scores, an assessment that is administered to all children in NC within the first 60 days of kindergarten initiation.