Overview

“Administered by the Health Policy & Management division, the PhD group in Health Services and Policy Analysis is an interdisciplinary doctoral program, which draws upon knowledge in economics, politics, and organizational theory which is then applied to the health care system. Graduates, who receive a thorough grounding in research methods and the application of these methods to the analysis of health policy issues, teach in universities or conduct high-level empirical and policy research in government organizations or in private sector research organizations. “

Translation: students in my program study primarily the US health care system, although there are many who are interested in comparative international health care. This means we tackle various problems by researching: the cost of pharmaceuticals, managed care markets, strategic management in healthcare, access to health care, medical decision making, nursing home regulation, measuring quality of care, diffusion of medical technology, etc.

Program of Study

"Students are required to take advanced course work in research methods, health economics, health care organizations, and health politics and policy analysis. Students receive a thorough grounding in research methods and in the application of these methods to the analysis of health policy issues. The Program requires a specialty field in one of the following area health economics, health care organizations, or health politics/policy analysis. Dissertation research is empirically based and relevant to the provision, financing, and evaluation of health services."

Translation: I take PhD classes all over campus, primarily in these departments: business, political science, public health, and public policy. My specialty field will be health care organizations (organizational theory). Even though this is my field, most of my research falls under the umbrella of health outcomes research.

Examples

Examples of faculty research in health economics, health care management, health policy, & health services research include:

Org Change > Strategic change in the health care sector-e.g. evolution of integrated delivery systems

Insurance > Social health insurance in developing countries

Interventions > Study of effectiveness of risk notification intervention for cancer survivors

Labor economics and policy > Longitudinal study of changing nurse staffing patterns in hospitals

Economics of tobacco control (This is what one of my advisors does – some of his current research evaluates the impact of tobacco taxes in Hong Kong on both the local economy – labor economics – and on the decrease in the number of hospitalizations or the burden of disease).