Manasa Pallapolu discovered she had an interest in health care administration while on the pre-med path at Drexel University. After graduation, the Fairfax, Va., native worked as the head of medical billing at a psychiatric office, where she was exposed to “a completely different side of health care.” She decided to return to school to pursue a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree.
Johanna Bellon (HPM '15) is the director of clinical analytics and data science within Cigna's Global Data and Analytics organization. She leads a team of data scientists who use advanced statistical and machine learning approaches to help identify and engage customers for Cigna's case management, coaching, and behavioral health programs to improve health and cost outcomes. While pursuing her PhD, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh Healt...
MCSILVER INSTITUTE – This podcast series brings together thought leaders from the public and private sectors to analyze stereotypes and dispel myths concerning Black boys and men, while providing facts and best practices for those working with these often marginalized populations. MIKE LINDSEY (HPM ’01) says, “with increased media and attention, more folks are attuned to racial issues and the long lasting impact of discrimination.”
MEDPAGE TODAY - A recent study by HPM's ERIC ROBERTS showed that Medicare's Value-based Payment Modifier program inadvertently shifted money away from physicians who treated sicker, poorer patients to pay for bonuses that rewarded practices treating richer, healthier populations. "Risk adjustment is usually
inadequate in these programs, in part, because it is difficult to measure the differences in complexity of patients across providers."
HEALTH AFFAIRS - Alan Weil, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief, shares his “Top Ten” favorite articles for 2017. HPM's ERIC ROBERTS' study addressed proposed mergers among large US health insurers and growing consolidation among providers, which have renewed concerns about the effects of market concentration on commercial health care prices.
ABIGAIL MONYEI (HPM) received this year's Dr. Edgar and Lauraine Duncan Scholarship which helps provide support for resources such as books, fees, stipends, or travel.
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VOX – In his first State of the Union address, Donald Trump abandoned his pledges to bring down the cost of America’s medicines. Lowering the out-of-pocket costs that normal people feel is worthwhile but that won’t bring down the gross costs of prescription drugs. “They’re just going to raise premiums, or try to offset it another way,” HPM’s WALID GELLAD said of insurance plans. “Someone’s gonna pay the price if the price doesn’t come down.”
THE COMMONWEALTH FUND - HPM'S ERIC ROBERTS examined changes in hospital and primary care utilization among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries in Maryland and control counties outside the state. The researchers aimed to pinpoint utilization changes linked solely to the global budget intervention and not related to prior trends. To this end, the authors compared utilization before Maryland launched the program and during the first two years of...
STAT - Congressional efforts to lower drug prices are at a standstill. Powerful health industry players disagree about how to move forward. Every group pushes it's own agenda and strategies, making it unlikely that crushing drug prices will change any time soon. "It is correct that one of the reasons patients are feeling such high prices is because they have to pay coinsurance and deductibles, says HPM's WALID GELLAD. "And it's true that pharma ...
CNBC - “The administration has not lived up to the hype I think people expected around drug prices,” said HPM’s WALID GELLAD of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. “They’ve done a few things, but it hasn’t lived up to the hype.”
STAT - “The market has spoken,” said WALID GELLAD of HPM and Pitt’s Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing. “The key issue for success and sustainability will be how the generic manufacturers and trade groups respond, and also how other hospital groups might respond. It’s a new world. Insurers become hospitals. Hospitals become pharmaceutical manufacturers. At some point, manufacturers will become insurers and providers.”
BALTIMORE SUN - “The takeaway so far may be that when hospitals change the way the health care delivery system works, you don’t necessarily get a broader transformation that people had hoped for,” said lead author, HPM’s ERIC ROBERTS. There may be several reasons, including that doctors are not yet widely provided incentives to participate in Maryland’s program.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER - There are a number of areas statistics are being used for actual changes on the ground. One example is related to the opioid crisis. HPM’s ZAN DODSON, a postdoctoral researcher with the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, used data on the concentration of opioid-related arrests to see which areas could use more “clean needle exchanges, Narcan kits, and readily available medical aid.”
BECKER'S HOSPITAL REVIEW - Derek C. Angus (BCHS '92), HPM faculty member and Pitt Med's director of the Clinical Research, Investigation and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness laboratory, has developed an evidence-based approach for managing post-hospitalization sepsis. “We need to focus not only on saving the patient’s life, but on ensuring the patient will have the best possible quality of life after leaving the hospital.”
90.5 WESA - Health policy researcher LINDSAY SABIK said that more cancer screenings may be driving these results, but added “there’s also the possibility that people do have symptoms and they go to see their health care provider soon after the symptoms begin, instead of putting off care because of concerns of costs or an inability to get recommended treatment.” Her research should be considered as the country debates the future of the Medicaid an...