Robert Penfold, PhD
Assistant Investigator
206-287-2232
penfold.r@ghc.org
Recent publications
Curriculum vitae (CV)
Research interests and experience
- Health services and economics: comparative effectiveness; consumer-directed health plans; patient outcomes; vaccine financing; costs of chronic illnesses; Medicare and Medicaid
- Mental health: children and adolescents; anti-psychotics and anti-depressants; bipolar disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder
- Biostatistics: hierarchical general linear modeling; space-time surveillance; marginal structural modeling; interrupted time series analysis
As an economic geographer with expertise in health policy, Rob Penfold has a unique perspective on health care. By examining changes in health care use over time and in different regions of the United States, his work develops strategies to optimize health care delivery. His research addresses practical issues such as how to distribute vaccines efficiently and how to measure direct and indirect costs of complex, long-term diseases like multiple sclerosis. Dr. Penfold is also especially interested in understanding how cost-control policies change the way people use patient services and how those changes have both negative or positive effects on health.
He is a co-investigator in the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a resource for studies on mental health conditions ranging from autism to postnatal depression. Based at Group Health Research Institute as part of the HMO Research Network, the MHRN is a collaboration among nine nonprofit health care and research systems and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Penfold directs one of the four main MHRN projects: how youth suicide rates are affected by FDA warnings about the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of antidepressants. Dr. Penfold also is investigating reasons why similar patients receive different mental health treatment, such as different medications, depending on where they live or receive care. With his extensive research on mental health services for children and young adults, particularly the use of antipsychotic and antidepressive drugs, he is uniquely qualified to lead these projects.
Dr. Penfold has extensive experience in gathering and analyzing information from large health databases, including those of Medicare and Medicaid, and the HMO Research Network’s Virtual Data Warehouse. These data and analyses allow rapid information sharing among Group Health and participating sites, which improves patient safety and timely access to effective, cutting-edge therapies. Researchers and clinicians at Group Health and around the world use methods developed by Dr. Penfold to study the dynamics of patient care as we implement new policies to make health care evidence-based, effective, and affordable.
Before joining GHRI in 2010, Dr. Penfold held research and teaching positions at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy; and most recently, at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Population Medicine and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.
Related information:
Recent publications
Andrade SE, Lo JC, Roblin D, Fouayzi H, Connor DF, Penfold RB, Chandra M, Reed G, Gurwitz JH. Antipsychotic medication use among children and risk of diabetes mellitus. Pediatrics. 2011;128(6):1135-41. Epub 2011 Nov 21. PubMed
Penfold RB, Rusinak D, Lieu TA, Shefer A, Messonnier M, Lee GM. Financing and systems barriers to seasonal influenza vaccine delivery in community settings. Vaccine. 2011 Oct 25. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Penfold RB, Kullgren JT, Miroshnik I, Galbraith AA, Hinrichsen VL, Lieu TA. Reliability of a patient survey assessing cost-related changes in health care use among high deductible health plan enrollees. BMC Health Serv Res. 2011 May 27;11:133. PubMed
Kullgren JT, Galbraith AA, Hinrichsen VL, Miroshnik I, Penfold RB, Rosenthal MB, Landon BE, Lieu TA. Health care use and decision making among lower-income families in high-deductible health plans. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Nov 22;170(21):1918-25.
Penfold RB, Wang W, Strange B, Pajer K, Kelleher KJ. Pediatric uptake of a newly available antipsychotic medication. Pediatrics. 2010;125(3):475-82. PubMed
Singh H, Penfold RB, DeCoster C, Au W, Bernstein CN, Moffatt M. Predictors of serious complications associated with lower gastrointestinal endoscopy in an entire city. Can J Gastroenterol. 2010; Jul;24(7):425-30. PubMed
Penfold RB, Wang W, Strange B, Pajer K, Kelleher KJ. Spatio-temporal clusters of new psychotropic medications among Michigan children insured by Medicaid. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2009;18(7):531-39. PubMed
Singh H, Penfold RB, DeCoster C, Kaita L, Proulx C, Taylor G, Bernstein CN, Moffatt M. Colonoscopy and its complications across a Canadian regional health authority. Gastrointest Endosc. 2009;69(3 Pt 2):665-71. PubMed
Reynolds B, Penfold RB, Patak M. Dimensions of impulsive behavior in adolescents: laboratory behavioral assessments. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2008;16(2):124-31. PubMed
Penfold RB, Dean S, Flemons W, Moffatt M. Do hospital standardized mortality ratios measure patient safety? HSMRs in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Healthcare Papers 2008;8(4):8-24. PubMed
Penfold, RB, Chisolm DJ, Nwomeh BC, Kelleher KJ. Geographic disparities in the risk of perforated appendicitis among children in Ohio: 2001-2003. Intl J Health Geogr. 2008;7:56. PubMed
Reynolds B, Patak M, Shroff P, Penfold RB, Melanko S, Duhig AM. Laboratory and self-report assessments of impulsive behavior in adolescent daily smokers and nonsmokers. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007;15(3):264-71. PubMed
To view more publications, please see Dr. Penfold's CV.