Health services & economics

Determining the true cost of providing health care can be difficult. That's because most information about cost comes from a fee-for-service system based on providers' reimbursement. But thanks to the increasing sophistication of data systems in large integrated delivery systems like Group Health, health care administrators are now developing a better understanding of the actual costs of delivering services to any given population. It's a crucial issue as society struggles to make more informed decisions about how to spend its limited health care resources.

"Through our work, we're able to demonstrate that investments in health promotion programs are the best ways to spend health care dollars," says Paul Fishman, PhD, associate investigator at Group Health Research Institute (GHRI). "For instance, we've known for decades that smoking cessation programs are one of the most efficient ways of improving population health; but our research is now showing that there are immediate financial benefits to health plans that provide coverage for these programs."

To explore health services and economics, GHRI researchers collaborate with colleagues at the HealthPartners Research Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research, the University of California at San Francisco's Institute for Health Policy Studies, the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound's Health Services Research and Development Program.

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Researchers in health services & economics

GHRI

Affiliate researchers

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Recent publications on health services & economics

2008

Hsu C, Phillips WR, Sherman KJ, Hawkes R, Cherkin DC. Healing in primary care: a vision shared by patients, physicians, nurses, and clinical staff. Ann Fam Med. 2008;6(4):307-14. PubMed

Bennett AV, Lozano P, Richardson LP, McCauley E, Katon WJ. Identifying high-risk asthma with utilization data: a revised HEDIS definition. Am J Manag Care. 2008;14(7):450-6. PubMed

Stevens DP, Sixta CS, Wagner E, Bowen JL. The evidence is at hand for improving care in settings where residents train. J Gen Intern Med. 2008;23(7):1116-7. PubMed

Baldwin LM, Hollow WB, Casey S, Hart LG, Larson EH, Moore K, Lewis E, Andrilla CH, Grossman DC. Access to specialty health care for rural American Indians in two states. J Rural Health. 2008;24(3):269-78. PubMed

Katon WJ, Russo JE, Von Korff M, Lin EH, Ludman E, Ciechanowski PS. Long-term effects on medical costs of improving depression outcomes in patients with depression and diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2008 Jun;31(6):1155-9. Epub 2008 Mar 10. PubMed

Fuhlbrigge A, Carey VJ, Finkelstein JA, Lozano P, Inui TS, Weiss KB. Are performance measures based on automated medical records valid for physician/practice profiling of asthma care? Med Care. 2008;46(6):620-6. PubMed

White AA, Gallagher TH, Krauss MJ, Garbutt J, Waterman AD, Dunagan WC, Fraser VJ, Levinson W, Larson EB. The attitudes and experiences of trainees regarding disclosing medical errors to patients. Acad Med. 2008;83(3):250-256. PubMed

Bonomi AE, Anderson ML, Rivara FP, Cannon EA, Fishman PA, Carrell D, Reid RJ, Thompson RS. Health care utilization and costs associated with childhood abuse. J Gen Intern Med. 2008;23(3):294-9. Epub 2008 Jan 19. PubMed

Young BA, Lin E, Von Korff M, Simon G, Ciechanowski P, Ludman EJ, Everson-Stewart S, Kinder L, Oliver M, Boyko EJ, Katon WJ. Diabetes complications severity index and risk of mortality, hospitalization, and healthcare utilization. Am J Manag Care. 2008;14(1):15-23. PubMed

Arterburn D, Westbrook EO, Wiese CJ, Ludman EJ, Grossman DC, Fishman PA, Finkelstein EA, Jeffery RW, Drewnowski A. Insurance coverage and incentives for weight loss among adults with metabolic syndrome. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16(1):70-6. PubMed

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Our major research interests

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