Grantees in the News

Joseph P. Newhouse, Ph.D., John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Management and Policy at Harvard University, was quoted in the October 19, 2010 New York Times article, "Health Insurers Test New Payment Incentives for Cancer Care [2]." The article discusses efforts by several large insurers to lower costs for cancer treatments by developing new ways to pay specialists. Dr.

Findings from a study led by J. William Thomas, Ph.D., visiting professor, Cutler Institute for Health Policy and Social Policy, University of Southern Maine, were highlighted in the September 7, 2010 NPR Health Blog “Costs of Defensive Medicine May Be Overstated.” [8] Dr. Thomas conducted HCFO-sponsored work that examined the costs of defensive medicine in the United States. 

Findings from a study led by J. William Thomas, Ph.D., visiting professor, Cutler Institute for Health Policy and Social Policy, University of Southern Maine, were highlighted in the September 7, 2010 MedPage Today article “Malpractice Adds Less Than 3% to Healthcare Tab.” [11] Dr. Thomas conducted HCFO-sponsored work that examined defensive medicine as a response to medical malpractice liability.

Findings from a HCFO-sponsored study led by Laurence C. Baker, Ph.D., were featured in a recent article on the website of American Medical News. The article, “Physician payment can vary widely for same procedures [16]” highlighted findings that were presented in June at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in Boston.  The study found that physicians in the same geographic area frequently are paid at different rates for the same task.

Findings from a study led by Joseph P. Newhouse, Ph.D., health policy professor at Harvard University, were highlighted in the June 17, 2010 New York Times article, “Doctors Recouped Cuts in Medicare Pay, Study Finds. [18]” The article discusses the implications of reducing Medicare spending by relying on cuts to the prices that doctors and hospitals are paid. Dr.

Findings from a study led by Judith H. Hibbard, Dr.P.H., professor at the University of Oregon, were highlighted in the May 11, 2010, Cleveland.com article “Reporting Surgical Fires Could Improve Patient Safety in Ohio, Experts Say [20].” The article discusses the lack of reporting of surgical fires in the state of Ohio. Dr.

Judith H. Hibbard, Dr.P.H., professor at the University of Oregon, was appointed to the Center for Advancing Health’s Fellows program [23]. The selection of Fellows was based on individuals' commitment to increasing consumer engagement in health care. Dr. Hibbard and colleagues completed several HCFO-sponsored studies examining consumers’ use of quality information.

Findings from a HCFO-sponsored study led by J. William Thomas, Ph.D., professor at the University of Southern Maine, were highlighted in the May 18, 2010, ScienceDaily article “Results of Physician Cost Profiling Can Vary Widely, Study Finds [25].” The research team analyzed alternative strategies for measuring specialist physicians' cost-efficiency.