November 20th, 2009

Demography & Aging Center Receives Renewed NIA Funding to Support Series of Workshops on Demography Research

Stanford Health Policy has received five years of renewed support for its Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. The National Institute on Aging funding will help expand the center's initiative to inform the academic community about demography and economic research in the area of health and aging. Read more »

November 17th, 2009

In letter to President Obama, Garber and Fuchs join top economists urging four elements necessary to control costs in health care legislation

Stanford Health Policy Director Alan Garber, core faculty Victor Fuchs and associate faculty Kenneth Arrow joined two dozen health economists in signing a letter to President Barack Obama urging cost controlling measures be included in health care legislation. The four key measures they outlined in their three-page memo are (1) deficit neutrality; (2) an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans; (3) an independent Medicare commission; and (4) delivery system reforms.

• » Letter to President Barack Obama urging four elements be included in health reform legislation to control costs

November 11th, 2009

Stanford Health Policy researchers receive NIA challenge grant to study HIV treatment

Core faculty Douglas Owens, associate faculty Margaret Brandeau and associate faculty Eran Bendavid received a $1 million challenge grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project that will compare antiretroviral regimen treatments for HIV, and evaluate the impact of these drugs on patients with cardiovascular problems. The award -- presented to three research projects out of the thousands that applied -- will allow the creation of two or three new research positions for the two-year funded project. Read more »

Alan Garber receives career achievement award from Society for Medical Decision Making

Director Alan Garber has been awarded the Society for Medical Decision Making's career achievement award. Presented at the SMDM's annual conference last week, the award recognizes senior investigators who have made significant contributions to the field of medical decision making.

November 10th, 2009

Dena Bravata's pedometer research featured in Washington Post article

Stanford Health Policy affiliate Dena Bravata's research on the health benefits of pedometer use is featured in the Washington Post. The article, "The Misfits: A look at pedometers' impact on weight loss," quotes Bravata at length and references Stanford's successful pedometer program.

• » Washington Post: A look at pedometers' impact on weight loss

November 9th, 2009

Director Alan Garber discusses patient care in NYT magazine article "Making Health Care Better"

In economist columnist David Leonhardt's New York Times magazine featured article "Making Health Care Better," Stanford Health Policy director Alan Garber comments on patient care not being as good as it should be.

• » Alan M. Garber

Read more »

October 14th, 2009

Alan Garber assesses what to expect from health reform

Entitlement programs, especially Medicare, pose the single gravest threat to our long-term financial future, Stanford Health Policy Director Alan Garber notes, with Medicare alone on a trajectory to consume 10 percent of the nation's output. Garber, a physician, economist, and professor of medicine, explores major cost savings proposals and the key features of the health reform plans now being debated in the U.S. Congress. Audio transcript available
Read more »

October 9th, 2009

In Economist debate, SHP director Garber focuses on value of comparative effectiveness research

Stanford Health Policy director Alan Garber offers his take on comparative effectiveness research in the Economist's online debate forum. Garber writes that our current system of "ignoring value ... has failed to limit expenditures or to deliver superior health outcomes." Part of the series "Economists Debates," Garber is the featured guest in the most recent online version of Oxford style of debating. Read more »

October 5th, 2009

Stanford Health Policy analyses of flu pandemics project savings from earlier vaccinations

In a city the size of New York, starting a vaccination campaign a few weeks earlier could save almost 600 lives and over $150 million, according to a study by scientists at the Stanford Health Policy and Stanford University School of Medicine. The study, to be published online Oct. 6 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, modeled a pandemic in a hypothetical urban area with a population and demographic characteristics mirroring New York City's.
Read more »

August 17th, 2009

Stanford Health Policy/UCSF team finds inducing labor need not increase cesarean risk

Contrary to a belief widely held by obstetricians, inducing labor need not increase a woman's risk for cesarean section delivery in childbirth, scientists at Stanford Health Policy and the University of California, San Francisco have found.
Read more »

August 12th, 2009

Stanford Health Policy welcomes Global Health Corps fellows for orientation

The first class of Global Health Corps fellows came to Stanford in July for an intensive orientation program. Stanford Health Policy hosted the the two-week training session, which prepared the 21 fellows for a year of global health field work in in Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Newark, NJ, and Boston, MA. Read more »

August 3rd, 2009

Stanford research assesses use of Tamiflu, Relenza to prevent flu

Two common anti-influenza drugs -- Relenza and Tamiflu -- appear equally effective at preventing common flu symptoms when given before infection, say Stanford Health Policy researchers. However, data is lacking on the effectiveness and safety of the two drugs in vulnerable groups such as the very young and people with compromised immune systems.
Read more »

July 6th, 2009

Health services & research medical student receives top honors at prestigious AcademyHealth annual meeting

Stanford School of Medicine student Jacqueline Baras Shreibati took home two of health service research's highest honors last month at a conference in Chicago. Shreibati, who also received a health service research masters degree from Stanford, won the AcademyHealth's Student Poster Award. Her poster, "MRI Availability and Low Back Pain Care for Medicare Patients," was also named one of the four best abstracts submitted by students at the AcademyHealth's annual meeting, and her work was featured in a special panel of the top student projects. Read more »

June 30th, 2009

Garber's IOM committee releases report recommending 100 initial priorities for research to determine which health care approaches work best

As a member of the Institute of Medicine committee charged with prioritizing the use of $1.1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds for comparative effectiveness research, Stanford Health Policy director Alan Garber co-authored the report recommending the 100 health topics that should get priority attention and funding.
Read more »

June 18th, 2009

In podcast, economist Victor Fuchs discusses why a government-sponsored insurance system won't work

Stanford Health Policy core faculty member Victor Fuchs draws upon his recent New England Journal of Medicine commentary to explain why the proposed health reform legislation advancing a government-sponsored insurance system doesn't address the fundamental problems in the health care system. Read more »

June 16th, 2009

Stanford Health Policy associate lists five steps to boost impact of comparative effectiveness research

Comparative effectiveness research is generating buzz these days, but associate Randall Stafford is asking policymakers to make sure that the plans for using the research go deep enough.
Read more »

June 8th, 2009

Horwitz investigates the role of parental involvement in childhood obesity

In the June 1, 2009 edition of Clinical Pediatrics, Stanford Health Policy core faculty member Sarah Horwitz co-authors an article assessing a family's influence in a child's body mass index.

• » Parent Involvement Is Associated With Early Success in Obesity Treatment

Stanford Health Policy researchers evaluate quality improvement strategies for children with asthma

After culling through 79 studies to evaluate which interventions improve the outcomes and processes of care for children with asthma, six Stanford Health Policy researchers penned an article for the forthcoming Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. Authors include senior researcher Dena Bravata, assistant research director Vandana Sundaram, associate Nayer Khazeni, core faculty members Paul Wise and Douglas Owens and executive director Kathryn McDonald.

• » Quality Improvement Strategies for Children With Asthma

In Washington Post op-ed Alain Enthoven lays out steps necessary to improve health care value

In their June 6th opinion piece, core faculty member Alain Enthoven and Mayo Clinic CEO Denis Cortese point to two fundamentals for cost savings in health care reform. They write that the President and Congress must focus on organized health-care delivery and aligned incentives to bring value to the health care system. Read more »

May 28th, 2009

In New England Journal perspective, Fuchs argues a government health insurance company doesn't fix the health care crisis

Stanford Health Policy core faculty member Victor Fuchs writes that a government-sponsored insurance company wouldn't make a dent in health care's three biggest problem areas-- high numbers of uninsured, rising costs and lapses in quality care. Rather, he pens in the New England Journal of Medicine perspective "The Proposed Government Health Insurance Company -- No Substitute for Real Reform," reform must be focused on financing, organization, and delivery of care.

May 20th, 2009

FRESH-Thinking Project on Health Care Reform Capstone Conference

At the FRESH Thinking Project on Health Care Reform Capstone Conference sponsored by Stanford Health Policy, thought leaders garnered one consensus: health care reform will happen, but what it will look like and if it will be enough is still to be seen. "What we can talk about are possibilities," said emeritus faculty member Victor Fuchs. Read more »

May 14th, 2009

Live blogging the FRESH-Thinking Capstone Conference on health reform

As the Obama Administration pushes for comprehensive health care reform, experts from across the field-- including Stanford Health Policy professors-- gather to discuss what steps must be taken for substantive change. Follow the FRESH-Thinking Capstone Conference via this livestream. Read more »

May 6th, 2009

Real time swine flu coverage: Stanford health experts regularly weigh in

Stanford Health Policy experts use this forum to weigh in on the swine flu-- the potential for disaster, the response thus far, what you should be on alert for-- drawing upon their multi-disciplinary backgrounds. Read more »

April 28th, 2009

Public health intervention expert discusses severity of swine flu

Stanford Health Policy core faculty Douglas K. Owens studies emergency responses to disease outbreaks. He sees the current swine flu outbreak as "exceptionally concerning" and says the next few days will give us a better sense of how far-reaching the epidemic is and how prepared the United States is to address it. Read more »

April 20th, 2009

Harvard health care expert Joe Newhouse discusses Medicare Part D in talk at Stanford

The John D. MacArthur Professor Health Policy and Management at Harvard University discussed health care spending and Medicare Part D. Newhouse has decades of experience in the field and numerous awards and appointments for his research in health care. Read more »