Felicia L Collins, MD, MPH, FAAP

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, US Department of Health and Human Services
Rear Admiral (retired)
Felicia Collins is standing outside wearing a blue blazer, white shirt, and patterned scarf. She has cropped coily hair and glasses.

Dr. Felicia Collins describes herself as a pediatrician by training and a public health practitioner at heart with a passion for serving vulnerable and underserved communities across the nation.  In December 2024, she retired from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after serving for 25 years in the HHS Office of the Secretary (OS), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  At the time of her retirement, she held the title of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General in the U.S Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS).

From 2018 to 2024, Dr. Collins served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and the Director of the OS Office of Minority Health (OMH).  Within OMH, she led the office in improving the health of racial and ethnic minority and American Indian and Alaska Native populations through the development of health policies and programs that help eliminate health disparities. In early 2021, Dr. Collins served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health. As the Acting ASH, she oversaw eight public health offices, 10 regional health offices, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the USPHS Commissioned Corps.

Prior to OMH, Dr. Collins served as a Senior Advisor in the HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) and co-led programmatic monitoring and oversight of more than 700 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) receiving $2 billion in grants to provide health care services to more than 14 million vulnerable and underserved patients. She also served at FDA supporting safe and effective drugs for children. Her first HHS assignment was serving as the Clinical Coordinator within the BPHC Office of Data, Evaluation, Analysis, and Research. Throughout her HHS career, RDML Collins received numerous awards from the USPHS and HHS, and from the Secretary of the Navy for providing medical care at the former National Naval Medical Center.

Dr. Collins’ professional experience also includes prior service as a legislative aide for the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues in the U.S. House of Representatives and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Dr. Collins received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in primary care pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and received her Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy.

In the midst of her decorated career, Dr. Collins cherishes most her roles as wife to Ronald Chung-A-Fung, JD, MBA, and mother to their son Danny.

Practicum

Community Mental Health/Substance Abuse Organizations and Their Relationships with Managed Care Organizations

Abstract:

Community mental health/substance abuse (MH/SA) organizations are increasingly forming contractual relationships with managed care organizations (MCOs).  However, the financial incentives used by MCOs to improve health care efficiency may also result in inadequate or inappropriate MH/SA services, especially for communities of color.  Thus, in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy Research, this pilot study surveyed community mental health/substance abuse organizations in order to assess these organizations' perspectives regarding MCO practices and to assess the potential impact of these practices on communities of color.  

Surveyed organizations reported disagreement with several MCO practices that have the potential to negatively impact the care of clients.  In particular, organizations reported insufficient MCO coverage of preventative, case management, translation, and transportation services; insufficient clinician time with patients; and managed care contract provisions which inhibited providers from exercising independent clinical judgment regarding patient care.  Undoubtedly, such managed care practices will negatively impact communities of color who disproportionately seek MH/SA services from community organizations.

Consequently, additional studies of managed community mental health/substance abuse organizations would provide essential information regarding the adequacy of services for communities of color.  These studies should include quantitative assessments of MCO practices.  In addition, in order to facilitate the data collection process, community MH/SA organizations need better systems for reporting quantitative demographic information regarding the clients that they serve.

Unfortunately, individual community MH/SA organizations often have little power to alter MCO contracts presented to them.  Therefore, if public purchasers, such as state Medicaid agencies, expect MCOs to furnish certain services (e.g., preventative, translation, and case management services), these purchasers must explicitly specify this in their contracts with MCOs.   

Faculty Preceptors:

Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., Director
Joel Teitelbaum, J.D., LL.M., Research Scientist, Center for Health Policy Research
George Washington University Medical Center