Kevin A. Schulman, M.D., M.B.A.

Kevin A. Schulman, M.D., M.B.A., is professor of medicine and vice chair for business affairs in the Department of Medicine in Duke University’s School of Medicine. He is also a professor in The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Schulman serves as director of the Center for Clinical and Genetic Economics in the Duke Clinical Research Institute and as director of the Health Sector Management Program at Fuqua. Under his leadership, the Health Sector Management Program has grown to more than 160 daytime M.B.A. students from 18 countries, and 60 executive M.B.A. students.

His research specialties include economic evaluation of new medical technologies and new clinical programs; health services and policy research, including access to care and the impact of reimbursement policies on clinical practice; clinical decision making, especially by patients with life-threatening conditions; pharmaceutical policy; biotechnology; and consumer health information technology.

Schulman received his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds appointments at the Duke Center for Clinical Health Policy and the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Services Research Unit. Schulman has served since 1999 as a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In HCFO-funded work, Schulman examined the relationship between market forces and the cost, treatments, and outcomes of Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The study found that the level of managed care activity in the health care market affects the process of care for Medicare fee-for-service AMI patients. Spillovers from managed care activity to patients with other types of insurance are more likely when managed care organizations have greater market power. “If managed care promotes efficiency, then all patients in a market may benefit,” Schulman said. “However, if managed care lowers costs by offering lower-quality services, spillover may adversely impact Medicare beneficiaries and others in the market.”

Schulman also worked on a HCFO-sponsored study with a team from the Georgetown Institute for Health Care Policy and Research, which explored selective contracting for tertiary care services by managed care plans. The team found that as the amount of managed care and/or hospital competition in an area increases, price of services will overshadow quality in relative importance. “The most interesting aspect of this work is how much each market had its own dynamic. In more sophisticated markets, purchasers appeared to evaluate hospitals on a more comprehensive basis.”

In addition to his HCFO-sponsored work, Schulman’s other research includes studies of health disparities, publication of clinical research studies, efficiency of new medical technologies, and descriptive studies of medication use.

For more information on Kevin Schulman, M.D., M.B.A., and a list of select publications, please visit his faculty webpage.