Ha T. Tu

Ha T. Tu is a senior health researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) in Washington, D.C. HSC is a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to inform policymakers and private decision makers about how local and national changes in the financing and delivery of health care affect people. She conducts policy analysis and quantitative and qualitative research on a variety of topics, including the design and effectiveness of price and quality transparency programs; innovations and trends in insurance benefit design; and consumer information-seeking and shopping behavior in health care markets. Ms. Tu has led research analyzing the use of retail-based health clinics and is currently leading a qualitative research project examining innovative employer-sponsored health promotion and wellness programs. Other areas of previous research include insurance coverage, access to care, and medical debt for people with chronic conditions and physician income and workforce trends.

Ms. Tu received her B.A. from Wellesley College and her M.P.A. degree, with a concentration in Applied Economics, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. There, she was the recipient of both a Woodrow Wilson Scholarship and a Karl Prickett Fellowship. Prior to joining HSC, she served as an independent consultant to a variety of public and private sector health care clients, and as an economic consultant with Nathan Associates, based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Tu is currently the principal investigator of the HCFO grant “Large Employers Use of Workplace Health Clinics.” Using qualitative research methods, Ms. Tu and her research team will explore the workplace health clinic model. They will examine motivations, objectives, and approaches being used, as well as the structure and organization of workplace clinics and how they fit into the overall structure of an employer's health benefits. The study will also investigate the degree to which these clinics affect the delivery of care, access, quality, and coordination, and return on investment relative to short and long-term health care costs, as well as indirect costs of absenteeism and productivity. The qualitative study will be supplemented by quantitative data from HSC’s 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey, which will provide nationally representative estimates of the prevalence and nature of workplace clinic use in the U.S. “Through this project, we aim to better understand the full spectrum of employer strategies concerning workplace clinics, the barriers faced by employers, and the impact of different strategies and models on cost containment and care delivery,” says Ms. Tu.