Presenters and Discussants: Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Potentials, Pitfalls, and Policy Issues

Presenters and Discussants

Meet our participants and discussants for the September 10^th Cyber Seminar: Disseminating Research Results for Policymakers- Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Potential, Pitfalls, and Policy Issues.

Presenters

Meredith Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Dr. Rosenthal is an Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is currently working in three primary research areas: (1) provider payment incentives; (2) the pharmaceutical industry, and (3) managed care markets. Dr. Rosenthal’s work-in-progress includes an evaluation of a health plan’s efforts to use market forces to improve quality by disseminating provider performance scores to consumers. The current study will be complemented by an evaluation of the subsequent introduction of pay-for-performance in the same health plan. Dr. Rosenthal and her colleagues are also engaged in a study of the rise of direct-to-consumer advertising and its impact on prescription drug utilization and appropriateness of care. Dr. Rosenthal is a co-investigator on Harvard University’s Health Care Markets and Managed Care Program funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Her component of that program is a study of the relationship between provider competition and managed care entry in rural markets. In addition to her research, Dr. Rosenthal teaches courses in Health Economics and Mental Health Economics and Policy. Dr. Rosenthal is also currently chair of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Physician Compensation. Dr. Rosenthal received her Ph.D. in health economics at Harvard University in 1998.

Learn more about Rosenthal’s HCFO grant.

Stephen T. Parente, Ph.D.
Dr. Parente is an Assistant Professor in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota where he specializes in health information technology, outcomes research, health economics, and managed care. He has extensive experience directing empirical analyses utilizing primary and secondary data bases and is acknowledged as a national expert on using administrative databases, particularly Medicare and managed care organization data, for health policy research. Dr. Parente has served as a consultant to several of the largest organizations in health care delivery including: UnitedHealth Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Health Care Financing Administration, the American Association of Health Plans, Pfizer, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and various state governments as well as biotechnology firms. He is currently the principal investigator for an evaluation of consumer-driven health plans using claims data from six large employers. He is also examining the productivity and cost impact of information technology investments in hospitals. Dr. Parente has recently concluded several studies including: the impact of Medicare HMO closures on beneficiaries; identifying patterns of controlled substance misuse within managed care plans as a patient safety tool; and the impact of elderly consumer health benefit knowledge of medical care demand and cost. Dr. Parente teaches graduate level courses in health information technology, e-commerce and medical technology evaluation. He actively collaborates on health policy research with other faculty at the University. He holds an appointment as adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota faculty, Dr. Parente gained a broad range of private and public sector health finance and policy experience by serving as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D WV) during the Bush and Clinton Administrations' health reform initiatives, and designing provider and health plan profiles of service utilization, financial performance and quality of care for HCFA and private insurers. He has a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, and both a Masters of Science in public policy analysis and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Rochester.

Learn more about Parente’s HCFO grant.

Judith Hibbard, Dr.P.H.
Dr. Hibbard is a Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the Oregon Health and Sciences University. Her work focuses on consumer decision-making and how consumers, through their choices and actions, can obtain a higher quality of care. Dr. Hibbard serves on several advisory panels and commissions, including ones for The National Health Care Quality Forum and the Oregon Patient Safety Commission. She is an investigator on the CAHPSII project. She is currently working on a study examining the assumptions about how consumers will behave when enrolled in consumer-driven health plans. Her research is supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. Her work appears in recent issues of: Health Affairs, Medical Care, and Health Services Research.

Learn more about Hibbard’s HCFO grant.

Discussants

Paul Fronstin, Ph.D.
Dr. Fronstin is a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to original public policy research and education on economic security and employee benefits. He is also Director of the Institute's Health Research and Education Program. He has been with EBRI since 1993. Dr. Fronstin's research interests include trends in employment-based health benefits, consumer-driven health benefits, the uninsured, retiree health benefits, employee benefits and taxation, and public opinion about health care. He currently serves on the advisory council for the Emeriti Retirement Health Program, and on the Maryland State Planning Grant Health Care Coverage Workgroup. Dr. Fronstin earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics from SUNY Binghamton and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Miami.

Scott D. Leitz
Scott Leitz is the director of the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), where he also serves as the state health economist. As the primary health policy development and analysis unit in Minnesota’s executive branch, the Health Economics Program serves the Legislature, stakeholders, consumers, and other interested groups. Before joining MDH in his current position, Mr. Leitz was the Director of Budget and Legislation for Health Care Programs at the Minnesota Department of Human Services where he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating budgetary and legislative initiatives related to the Medicaid, MinnesotaCare, and General Assistance Medical Care. He also served as a research economist and coordinator of federal relations for MDH and has served as a senior program evaluator for the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. Mr. Leitz has a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a B.S. in economics and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.

Moderators

Bonnie J. Austin, J.D.
Ms. Austin is a Senior Manager at AcademyHealth and primarily works on The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) Initiative. Her responsibilities include reviewing proposals and monitoring grants, coordinating conferences on health care financing issues and drafting newsletter articles and findings briefs. Prior to joining AcademyHealth, Ms. Austin worked for 10 years as a litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Her practice included representing clients, including health care providers, in criminal investigations, civil suits, and administrative proceedings. Ms. Austin received her M.P.H. from The George Washington University, her J.D. from University of Notre Dame Law School and her B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Jeremy J. Alberga
Mr. Alberga is a Senior Manager at AcademyHealth and primarily works on The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) program. He also manages AcademyHealth's contract with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide technical assistance to 43 State Planning Grant awardees. His responsibilities include providing technical assistance to state policymakers on health policy reform, specifically expanding and maintaining health insurance coverage through public programs and public/private partnerships; disseminating state models of expansion through the program's written products; convening workshops and small group consultations for policymakers; and assisting in the development of technical assistance documents. Mr. Alberga began working at AcademyHealth in April 1999. Before that he worked for a private firm providing research to hospital emergency departments and ambulatory care facilities. Mr. Alberga received his MA in international health policy from the George Washington University and his BA from McGill University, Montreal.
______________________________________