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Concentration in Health Economics and Policy

Offered By: Department of Health Policy and Management

Onsite | Full-Time | 4 - 5 years

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About the Concentration in Health Economics and Policy

The concentration in Health Economics and Policy prepares doctoral students to address the most pressing challenges in health and health care through innovative, rigorous and interdisciplinary research in the field of health economics. This program integrates traditional training in economics with practical training in health policy and health services research to train the next generation of health economists.

The curriculum offers a broad exposure to the health economics literature and public health disciplines, and stresses the policy implications of these fields of research. The curriculum stresses a foundation in applied modern microeconomic theory, economic evaluation, quantitative methods and econometrics, including PhD-level courses from the Department of Economics in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Doctoral students are paired with a faculty adviser from the Health Economics concentration with similar research interests. Faculty in the Health Economics concentration are working in a variety of research areas including understanding health insurance design, the economic implications of health and health care disparities, market forces and health care prices, pharmaceutical economics, and payment design and access. Doctoral students will also have the opportunity to work with other faculty within the Department, as well as faculty from other Departments including International Health, Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Biostatistics, the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, the Carey Business School, and the Department of Economics. Students also often work with various centers and initiatives across the University, including the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative.

What Can You Do With a Graduate Degree In Health Economics And Policy?

The program prepares students for successful research careers as health economists. Former students have gone onto careers in academia, government, research-oriented non-profits, and the private sector. Visit the  Graduate Employment Outcomes Dashboard to learn about Bloomberg School graduates' employment status, sector, and salaries.

View a list of selected recent graduates and dissertation titles for the PhD Concentration in Health Economics and Policy.

Curriculum for the Concentration in Health Economics and Policy

Browse an overview of the requirements for this PhD program in the JHU  Academic Catalogue  and explore all course offerings in the Bloomberg School  Course Directory .

Admissions Requirements

For general admissions requirements, please visit the How to Apply page.

Standardized Test Scores

Standardized test scores are  not required and not reviewed  for this program. If you have taken a standardized test such as the GRE, GMAT, or MCAT and want to submit your scores, please note that they will not be used as a metric during the application review.  Applications will be reviewed holistically based on all required application components.

Matthew Eisenberg, PhD, MPhil,

uses applied health economics methods to study how consumers make decisions about their healthcare.

All accepted PhD students receive a standard funding package.  As of September 1, 2023 this package includes full tuition support, a $30,000 per year stipend, individual health, dental, and vision insurance and the University Health Services clinic fee for four years.

For funding sources, please see PhD funding page .

Need-Based Relocation Grants Students who  are admitted to PhD programs at JHU starting in Fall 2023 or beyond can apply to receive a $1500 need-based grant to offset the costs of relocating to be able to attend JHU.   These grants provide funding to a portion of incoming students who, without this money, may otherwise not be able to afford to relocate to JHU for their PhD program. This is not a merit-based grant. Applications will be evaluated solely based on financial need.  View more information about the need-based relocation grants for PhD students .

Questions about the program? We're happy to help. [email protected] 410-955-2488

PhD in Health Economics & Outcomes Research

Update: for the 2024 admissions cycle, gre scores are required for all applicants., application deadline: december 15, 2023, phd information session.

In this session, you can learn more about the application process, program structure, core competencies, career outcomes, and more. The session is led by Professors Anirban Basu & Josh Carlson. Watch the recording of our October 2023 information session here . Access the webinar slides. 

Opportunity

The CHOICE Institute at the UW School of Pharmacy teaches you how to influence health policy and how to advance your research all the while modeling excellence.

Our program offers an exceptional educational experience alongside highly engaged peers , faculty, and alumni . Our program is selective, accepting up to four new doctoral students a year. This allows for extraordinary access to our world-class faculty as well as peers who will challenge and engage you.

At UW, the six health sciences disciplines are co-located, allowing for innovative cross-discipline collaborations. Based in the biotech center of Seattle, The CHOICE Institute partners with numerous affiliate institutes, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation, and many more . Faculty and students in pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, nursing, social work, and public health are uniquely positioned to take advantage of breakthrough research and medical technology opportunities.

Financial Support

Doctoral students admitted into the program are guaranteed to have their tuition funded for the first two years, through a combination of fellowships, research, or teaching assistantships. While students are responsible for securing the remainder of the funding for their program, funding opportunities are always available. See Funding Opportunities for more details. Research assistantship also provides health insurance at no charge for students; coverage is available for spouses and dependents for an additional fee. (You can find more information on the Graduate Appointee Insurance Program and other benefits through UW Human Resources .)

Students train in the academic disciplines essential to the comparative evaluation of medical interventions. This affects health outcomes as well as medication safety and effectiveness; students also train in the provision of economic value estimates and the applications of these to health policy. Students delve into pharmacoepidemiology and learn the importance of health technology assessment (HTA) in evaluating the consequences of different health technologies. The impact of these health technology evaluations is seen in fields across the board, from genomics to geriatrics.

CHOICE faculty, post-doctoral fellows and students conduct comparative effectiveness research, medication safety research and studies on the cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions and health insurance, allowing them to estimate value propositions and improve decision making by patients, clinicians, and policymakers, creating a more personalized medicine experience. The program is patient-centered and relies on real-world evidence and data science, allowing students to delve into the depths of pharmacoeconomics. Students learn from leaders in the field and each other, all while enjoying the vibrant Pacific Northwest as a backdrop.

Graduate training in the program prepares students for career opportunities in:

• Academic and big data research, informatics and teaching
• Pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries
• Professional associations, health care insurance providers, and governmental agencies
• Health-systems and managed care organizations
• Non-profit organizations geared toward global health or pharmaceutical policy change

Prerequisites

• Students with master’s degrees in related fields such as epidemiology, economics, statistics, or public health are encouraged to apply. Students with professional degrees in pharmacy, medicine, or a health-related field who have strong quantitative skills are also supported.
• The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required, and special weight is given to exceptional scores on the quantitative and analytical portions.
• Other admission prerequisites include meeting the minimum Graduate School requirements. 

See Application Information for more detailed requirements and instructions.

Doctoral Degree Program Requirements

Students complete courses in the fields of biostatistics, clinical trial design and analysis, health economics, epidemiology, and health policy in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the complex and interdisciplinary environment of outcomes research as a foundation.

Total minimum credits required: 115

• Minimum of 73 credits of core coursework (47) and seminar (12)
• 27 dissertation credits
• 14 Elective Credits
• Independent Study

Milestones:

• Preliminary exams
• General Exam (dissertation proposal defense)
• Dissertation Defense

An overview of our core program can be found in the Gr aduate Student Handbook . 

PhD Program Brochure

PhD in Health Economics

• Admission and Financial Aid
• Requirements for Degree Completion

Located in Los Angeles on the USC University Park Campus, the USC PhD program in health economics offers students the opportunity to help shape the future of health care through groundbreaking research and innovative policy solutions. Our multidisciplinary program offers rigorous training in microeconomics, econometrics, cost effectiveness analysis, welfare economics, public finance, epidemiology and health status measurement. Students in the program work closely with our world-renowned faculty, gaining the practical research experience needed to launch their careers.

Our program offers numerous benefits to help position our students for future success. All of our PhD students are fully funded, including tuition remission and stipend, for up to five years through teaching and research assistantships or competitive fellowships.  Many of our students participate in internships that offer real world experience and networking opportunities in industry, policy analysis and consulting.  Our department’s affiliation with the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics provides opportunities for students to work closely with distinguished faculty from across USC on impactful projects. Bolstered in part by our strong alumni network, our students are highly sought after for positions in academia, government and industry.

“I chose the Health Economics PhD program at USC for three reasons: the strong concentration of health economics faculty here as compared to traditional economics departments, the rigor of economics training compared to other applied programs, and quality of life (i.e., location in sunny Southern California and funding from a USC School of Pharmacy fellowship).”

Laura Henkhaus

Phd, health economics ’19, data scientist, hill physicians medical group.

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Ph.D. in Health Economics

The Ph.D. in Health Economics is designed to train scientists to engage in modern economic research related to questions pertinent to the health care sector and to personal and public health.  It is an on-campus program. Students take courses both from the Economics Department, which is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and from the Health Systems, Management & Policy (HSMP) Department, which is housed in the Colorado School of Public Health. The ECON coursework grounds students in rigorous economic theory and modern statistical methods, whereas the HSMP coursework connects students to institutional details of the health care sector, administrative data methods, grant writing, and the development of interdisciplinary health care research.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the Ph.D. degree in Health Economics, students will be able to:

• Understand the economic approach to studying the healthcare sector, health behaviors, and health outcomes.
• Understand how different markets function in the health care sector, such as the market for health care, health insurance, health labor (such as physicians and nursing), and pharmaceuticals.
• Understand the challenges in identifying causal relationships using health data. 
• Use and develop statistical and econometric models, based on economic theory, to analyze various economic issues and make policy recommendations.
• Communicate, in written form and verbally, theoretical and econometric findings to an audience of economics professionals and to a general audience. 

The Emphasis of the Program

Students begin the program with extensive training in microeconomic theory along with substantial exposure to applied econometrics and quantitative analysis. This training includes working with large and diverse data sets, and becoming proficient using statistical software. The Ph.D. core and elective courses provides the foundation for students to engage in innovative and original research in health economics, including evaluating the effectiveness of health interventions and health policy, and conducting economic cost-benefit analysis.

Financial Aid

General financial aid is managed and awarded to students through the CU Denver Office of Financial Aid (FAFSA code: 004508). You can find more information  here . The department offers specific financial assistance to Ph.D. students in form of partial tuition scholarships, teaching assistantships (TAs), research assistantships (RAs), and grader positions. These positions are awarded on a competitive basis, and are initially based on information provided in the student’s application to the Ph.D. program. Students admitted to the Ph.D. program are automatically considered for a gradaute assistantship position. No separate application or further information is needed.

Note: The University of Colorado Denver is a member of Western Regional Graduate Program . Qualified students admitted to this program who are residents of one of the 15 WICHE states may be eligible for in-state tuition.

Ph.D. Program Resources

• Degree Requirements
• Admission Requirements / How to Apply
• Ph.D. Student Directory

M.S. in Health Economics

Certificate Programs

Contact Information

For general admissions questions contact the Graduate School at [email protected] or 303-315-0049.

For questions about the Ph.D. in Health Economics program contact the Graduate Advisor at [email protected]

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DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

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Health Economics

Institute for policy research.

The Institute for Policy Research (IPR) is the home of many research groups and centers.  IPR faculty publish their research in many of the leading journals for their particular discipline, in addition to working paper series, chapters, books, monographs, and reports.

Northwestern’s vibrant health economics community produces leading research on population health and the organization of health care markets. Faculty and students working in the area of health economics engage closely with other fields, including industrial organization, labor and public, and development. In addition to faculty in the department, there are leading health economists in Kellogg’s Strategy group and the School of Education and Social Policy. The Buehler Center at the Feinberg School of Medicine further has an active and growing group of economists and public health researchers. The department and Kellogg’s Strategy group jointly offer a two-quarter, second-year sequence that provides students with an in-depth look at a range of theoretical models and empirical applications in health and health care economics. The department holds a weekly Applied Microeconomics seminar; faculty and students working on health care topics also frequently attend the Strategy seminar and seminars held by the Institute for Policy Research (IPR).

University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus

2024-2025 academic catalog, health economics, phd.

Please click  here  to see Economics department information.

Introduction

Program Director: Andrea Velasquez, Ph.D., Department of Economics Program Co-Director: Marcelo Perraillon, Ph.D., Health Systems, Management & Policy

The Ph.D. in Health Economics is designed to train scientists to engage in modern economic research related to questions pertinent to the health care sector and to personal and public health. Students take courses both from the Economics Department, which is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and from the Health Systems, Management & Policy (HSMP) Department, which is housed in the Colorado School of Public Health. The ECON coursework grounds students in rigorous economic theory and modern statistical methods, whereas the HSMP coursework connects students to institutional details of the health care sector, administrative data methods, grant writing, and the development of interdisciplinary health care research.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their Health Economics faculty advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Graduate Education Policies and Procedures apply to this program.

Program requirements.

• Students must complete a minimum of 76 credit hours, including 36 hours of core requirements, and a minimum of 30 dissertation credit hours. Each student's plan will be worked out in conjunction with the graduate advisor. Students are expected to meet all course prerequisites.
• Students must complete a minimum of 30 graduate (5000 and above) level credit hours.
• Students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in all courses that apply to the degree and must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to program requirements. No course may be taken more than twice and only one attempt will retain the credit.
• Students must complete all credits for the degree with CU Denver/ CU Anschutz faculty.

Students must complete two credit hours of  HSMP 7010 Foundations in Health Services Research .

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website .  

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CU Denver Undergraduate Catalog

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The Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics (in the School of Pharmacy) offers a program of study leading to the PhD degree in Health Economics. The program focuses on microeconomics; econometrics; health economics and policy; public finance; pharmaceutical economics and policy. The program offers one track in microeconomics and a second track in pharmaceutical economics and policy.

Microeconomics Track

Students in the microeconomics track will complete the microeconomic theory and econometric sequence and course work in health economics. They will receive focused training and mentoring in health economics through collaboration on research projects.

Satisfactory completion of the economic theory sequence with a grade point average of B or higher.

At least one of the econometrics courses must be completed with a grade of B or higher. The courses recommended for fulfilling the requirements for the Microeconomics Track are:

• GSBA 602 Selected Issues in Economic Theory I Units: 3
• PMEP 509 Research Design Units: 4
• ECON 636 Health Economics I Units: 4
• ECON 693 Seminar in Applied Economics and Public Policy Units: 2
• GSBA 612 Selected Issues in Economic Theory II Units: 3
• PMEP 525 Pharmacoeconomics I Units: 4
• PMEP 526 Pharmacoeconomics II Units: 2
• PMEP 535 Behavioral Science and Policy in Healthcare Units: 4
• PMEP 544 Health Economics II Units: 4
• PMEP 547 Programming Methods for Empirical Analysis of Health Data Units: 4
• PMEP 551 Introduction to Health Econometrics Units: 4
• PMEP 552 Advanced Health Econometrics I Units: 4
• PMEP 553 Advanced Health Econometrics II Units: 4
• PMEP 698 Seminar in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy Units: 1

Additional Requirements

Foreign Language Requirement

There is no formal foreign language requirement. However, competence in the use of one computer programming language is required for the graduate degree. Such competence can be demonstrated either by course work or examination.

Grade Point Average

A grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 and typically considerably higher (on a scale of 4.0) must have been achieved on all graduate work at USC for the passing of the screening procedure. The Graduate School requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 on all course work taken as a graduate student at USC.

Unit Requirements

The PhD in Health Economics requires a minimum of 64 units of graduate-level courses numbered 500 or higher (excluding 794) and a minimum of 4 units of 794. A maximum of two full courses (eight units) or their equivalent may be PMEP 790    (research) since directed research will generally be incorporated into most 500- and 600-level courses. Exceptions will be considered on an individual basis. Normally, a full-time graduate student course load is three full courses or their equivalent per semester, with a four-course maximum. Students may transfer and substitute up to 24 units of graduate course work from other universities to fulfill the required 64 units of graduate credit subject to the approval of the department.

Screening Procedure

The student’s progress will be reviewed after each semester and before registration for any additional course work to determine if progress has been satisfactory. The screening procedure will include satisfactory performance on written screening exams covering the major topics covered in the recommended coursework for each track.

Qualifying Exam

Upon successful completion of the first two years of course and grade requirements, and following passing of required screening procedures, the student takes a general written and oral examination on the chosen area of research emphasis after presenting a detailed written dissertation proposal. After passing these examinations, the student is admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.

The student will select a member of the graduate faculty who will serve as his or her adviser and chair of the student’s qualifying exam committee. The student should consult the director of Graduate Studies for the Health Economics program on the selection of his or her adviser and chair of the PhD qualifying exam committee after taking the written screening examinations. The chairman of the student’s PhD qualifying exam committee advises the student on matters of curriculum and graduate opportunities. The qualifying exam committee is composed of five members. The committee chair and at least two additional members must have appointments in the student’s program. Faculty eligible to serve as committee chairs and members include tenured, tenure-track, and research faculty, teaching faculty, practitioner faculty or clinical faculty (RTPC) faculty. The committee chair and at least three members must be research active in a field relevant to the research thesis and one member of the committee must be tenured or tenure track; and the committee membership requires approval by the dean of the school. Visiting faculty may not serve on qualifying exam committees. The vice provost for graduate programs is an ex officio member of all qualifying exam committees.

The composition of all PhD qualifying exam committees must be approved by the director of Graduate Studies for the Health Economics program. The student must form his or her qualifying exam committee soon after passing the departmental screening procedure.

Dissertation Proposal Preparation

The student is required to register for two units of PMEP 790    and write a research paper on a topic suitable for a dissertation. Typically, the chair of the student’s guidance committee directs this work. The resulting essay becomes part of the student’s written dissertation proposal which constitutes the written portion of the qualifying exam.  This proposal is presented and critiqued during the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

Dissertation

After admission to candidacy, the student forms a dissertation committee comprising three faculty members, one of whom can be from an outside department. The chair of this committee is the dissertation supervisor. The student must register for PMEP 794a   , PMEP 794b   , PMEP 794c   , PMEP 794d   , or PMEP 794z    each semester, excluding summer sessions, until the dissertation and all other degree requirements are completed.

The student is expected to complete a dissertation based on an original investigation. The dissertation must represent a significant contribution to knowledge and must be defended in an oral examination administered by the dissertation committee (see the section on Theses and Dissertations ).

Student Teaching

Teaching experience is considered an integral part of the training of graduate students. As part of the general requirements for the PhD, all students are required to undergo training as an educator. This will include participating in seminars on educational techniques and hands-on teaching experiences through participation in didactic and small group teaching in the School of Pharmacy or the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Seminar Requirements

Every student is recommended to take and satisfactorily complete 4 units of research seminars chosen from ECON 693   , PMEP 698    or the equivalent. At least one of these seminars must be related to the student’s major field, and the same seminar may be taken more than once. Before completing the dissertation, it is recommended that the student present at least one original research paper in a seminar of his or her choice. This paper should typically consist of original results contained in the student’s dissertation.

Three electives at the 500 level or higher from the School of Pharmacy’s Health Economics Program and from the departments of economics, mathematical statistics, biometry, epidemiology, public administration, computer science or other relevant fields are required.

Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy Track

Students in the pharmaceutical economics and policy track will specialize in areas such as cost-effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, drug therapy outcomes and organization of pharmaceutical markets. They will receive focused training and mentoring in pharmaceutical economics and policy through collaboration on research projects.

Satisfactory completion of the pharmaceutical economics and policy sequence with an average grade of B or higher

• PMEP 527 Pharmacoeconomics III Units: 4
• PMEP 539 Economic Assessment of Medical Care Units: 4

The student is required to register for 2 units of PMEP 790    and write a research paper on a topic suitable for a dissertation. Typically, the chair of the student’s guidance committee directs this work. The resulting essay becomes part of the student’s written dissertation proposal, which constitutes the written portion of the qualifying exam. This proposal is presented and critiqued during the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

Every student is recommended to take and satisfactorily complete 4 units of research seminars chosen from PMEP 698    or the equivalent. At least one of these seminars must be related to the student’s major field and the same seminar may be taken more than once. Before completing the dissertation, it is recommended that the student present at least one original research paper in a seminar of his or her choice. This paper should typically consist of original results contained in the student’s dissertation.

A minimum of three electives at the 500 level or higher from the School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy Program and from the departments of economics, mathematical statistics, biometry, epidemiology, public administration, computer science or other relevant fields are required.

List of Electives

• ECON 401 Mathematical Methods in Economics Units: 4
• ECON 415 Behavioral Economics Units: 4
• ECON 419 Advanced Econometrics Units: 4
• ECON 500 Microeconomic Analysis and Policy Units: 4
• ECON 513 Practice of Econometrics Units: 4
• ECON 601 Microeconomic Theory I Units: 4
• ECON 603 Microeconomic Theory II Units: 4
• ECON 604 Game Theory Units: 4
• ECON 611 Probability and Statistics for Economists Units: 4
• ECON 615 Applied Econometrics Units: 4
• ECON 688 Empirical Industrial Organization Units: 4
• HCDA 506 Foundations of Insurance and Global Access Units: 3
• HCDA 507 Foundations of Product Development and Commercialization Units: 3
• MEDS 500 Basic Concepts in Global Health Units: 4
• PM 510L Principles of Biostatistics Units: 4
• PM 511aL Data Analysis Units: 4
• PM 511bL Data Analysis Units: 4
• PM 511cL Data Analysis Units: 4
• PM 512 Principles of Epidemiology Units: 4
• PM 523 Design of Clinical Studies Units: 3
• PM 536 Program Evaluation and Research Units: 4
• PM 552 Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials Units: 3, 2 years
• PM 560 Statistical Programming With R Units: 2
• PSYC 426 Motivated Behaviors and Addiction Units: 4

• Youth Program
• Wharton Online

Health Care Management & Economics

Wharton’s phd program in health care management and economics provides an interdisciplinary health services research focus applicable across private and public sectors..

The program combines intensive training in health care systems and health services research with advanced training in a traditional business discipline.

Our program provides thought leadership and policy development in the following areas of distinction:

• Value of technology and innovation
• Health insurance design and reform
• Design and impact of incentives in numerous health industry contexts
• Competition and collaboration across the value chain
• The broad interprofessional/multidisciplinary work of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics

Wharton’s doctoral program is unique among similar programs because it provides a strong background in microeconomic theory, an advanced teaching of econometric and statistical techniques, a comprehensive analysis of both health economics and health care services research, and grounding in management/strategy theory and research. The doctoral program complements the course work with numerous opportunities to collaborate with faculty members in research projects exploring a wide variety of topics in the health economics and management fields.

For more information on courses and sample plan of study,  please visit the University Graduate Catalog .

Disciplinary Clusters

The purpose of the disciplinary cluster is to equip candidates to conduct research in their areas of choice and to teach in fields in addition to Health Care Management and Economics. The courses may be drawn from the following clusters:

• Economics/Public Management
• Operations and Information Management
• Statistics/Epidemiology
• Finance/Accounting
• Public Policy and Management

Student Involvement in the Department

Students participate in faculty-supervised projects as research fellows, starting in the second year of the program. This work provides first-hand knowledge of research methods and design and often furnishes the basis for a dissertation topic. It also teaches students the art of securing funding for research, which is important for any aspiring health services researcher. Students are also expected to participate in the Leonard Davis Institute’s Research and Policy Seminar Series, which feature external speakers working on cutting-edge health services research projects and policy issues. In addition to regular seminars, all PhD students are expected to participate in the department colloquium, which features discussion of research in progress by faculty members, students, and guests.

Get the Details.

Visit the Health Care Management and Economics website for details on program requirements and courses. Read faculty and student research and bios to see what you can do with a Health Care Management and Economics PhD.

Associate Director Joanne Levy Email: [email protected]

Health Economics

The study of health economics focuses on the economic behavior of individuals; providers; insurers; and international, federal, state, and local governments and actors as their actions affect health and medical care. This includes financing health care, provider payment systems, and restructuring health systems.

Primary Faculty in Health Economics

Anna Sinaiko Benjamin Sommers Meredith Rosenthal Joseph Newhouse

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• Current Students

Health Policy PhD

Impact population health at a systems level.

Health policy is an interdisciplinary field that examines the organization and financing of health systems and services; the impact of health policies on population health; and the economic, social and behavioral determinants of health. It involves the investigation of all systems that affect population health, not just the medical care system. The purview of health policy is global.

The mission of our program is to prepare students for research careers in health policy and health services research; teaching; and public service in university, governmental and public policy settings. This program is distinguished by its interdisciplinary application of the social and behavioral science disciplines to real world health issues. Graduates are prepared to play lead scientific roles in addressing the many challenges facing health care and public health systems in the United States and countries around the world.

Students must successfully complete a health services research readings and methods seminar (two semesters), five specialty field courses, three quantitative research methods courses, and three additional graduate elective courses.

The program includes three specialty fields:

The Health Economics specialty field draws on economics, epidemiology and statistics to understand the causal relationship between different aspects of health and the health care sector. With an emphasis on quantifying relationships, health economics covers a broad range of study areas including health production, demand and supply of health services, health care financing, behavioral responses to institutional or policy incentives, policy evaluations and other efficiency, and equity issues surrounding health.

The Organizations & Management specialty field trains scholars in organizational behavior and political science in regards to health. Theories and methods in organizational sociology, political science and social psychology are central to the study of health organizations. Specialty field courses in macro-organizational theory, micro-organizational theory and organizational analysis of the health sector are required. This specialty field emphasizes the management of health care and public health organizations and systems, the implementation and dissemination of policies and practices within and across organizations, and the role of policy-making institutions as platforms for the creation and modification of health policies.

The Population Health Sciences specialty field trains students for research careers in the social, behavioral, and economic determinants of health and the study of interventions, policies, and practices that impact the health of populations and vulnerable communities. The specialty field emphasizes addressing the social and behavioral determinants of health through quantitative research informed by theoretical frameworks in economics, psychology, demography, and social epidemiology. Training in innovative methodologies for establishing causal relationships in quasi-experimental research is a cornerstone of the Population Health Sciences specialty field. Students will learn and integrate cutting-edge methods from key areas of strength at Berkeley: biostatistics, social science methods such as econometrics and formal demography, and the rapidly evolving set of data science innovations such as machine learning that are being advanced at Berkeley including in the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society. The explosion of health sector data availability, along with Berkeley’s innovation hub positioning, make this an excellent track for students looking to become quantitative experts who can lead research across a wide variety of population health science and health policy questions.

Students have access to all of UC Berkeley’s disciplines and professional schools, in addition to UCSF faculty and research programs. This is a full-time program geared for careers in academia and research and students typically complete it in four to five years. Our program is administered by Berkeley Public Health and the doctoral degree is granted by UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division.

Graduates can achieve and demonstrate expertise in the following major academic outcomes:

• Develop domain expertise in core works in health policy and the selected specialty field.
• Understand central social science theoretical frameworks and debates shaping health policy.
• Demonstrate substantive knowledge of the specialty field sufficient to design and teach graduate-level courses in that field.
• Demonstrate the ability to conduct rigorous quantitative research.
• Plan and conduct independent research using advanced research methods.
• Demonstrate the mastery of academia and grant writing, conference presentation, IRB procedures and ethics in research.
• Engage in intellectual exchange among students and faculty across the university to enhance interdisciplinary research and training.

Qualifications

A master’s degree is not a requirement for this program, however, entering students should have completed introductory coursework in statistics, microeconomics, epidemiology and public health. Students without master’s-level coursework in these areas are required to take relevant courses at UC Berkeley or otherwise demonstrate mastery of these areas.

Graduates are well-prepared to assume academic careers in research and teaching. Many of our graduates move directly to positions in academia, government or research organizations. Other graduates receive postdoctoral fellowships to continue specific training in their area of interest and research.

To apply to the Health Policy PhD program, please complete the UC Berkeley Graduate Division admissions application . This program does not use the SOPHAS application.

Submissions of GRE scores are optional but strongly recommended for this program. Especially if you have no other evidence of quantitative, verbal, or analytical abilities in your application. If not submitting a score, competitive applicants will need to provide alternative evidence of strong quantitative capability and should speak to their analytical and quantitative preparation for the PhD program in their application based on past coursework (e.g. statistics, microeconomics, math) and/or professional experience.

Please submit a writing sample and provide a list of publications and/or presentations related to your academic or professional background (include the PubMed ID if applicable).

If your work is published as a website or part of it, please provide the URL. Your writing sample can be a written assignment, journal article, report, Op-Ed, commentary, conference abstract, or other publication. Please enter your most recent citation first.

This is a quantitatively-oriented health policy program. Prospective applicants primarily interested in qualitative methods are advised to explore related programs such as the UC Berkeley PhD in Social Welfare or Medical Anthropology, or the UCSF Sociology program. Prospective applicants instead primarily focused on computational methods should also consider related UC Berkeley PhD programs in Biostatistics or Computational Precision Health.

Core Faculty

The core PhD program faculty members of the School of Public Health, the Haas School of Business, School of Social Welfare, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Departments of Economics, Sociology, and Political Science.

Emeriti Faculty

Emeritus faculty of the Health Policy Faculty Group are Professors of the Graduate School and may serve on dissertation committees as Chair, inside members, or as an Academic Senate Representative. Their availability to students, however, may be limited compared to core faculty group members.

Health Policy Research Centers at UC Berkeley and UCSF

Health Policy PhD students have access to a wide range of resources at UC Berkeley and UCSF, including highly regarded research centers. Below are brief descriptions of a selected list of research centers most closely aligned with the Health Policy PhD program. These Centers include faculty from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines who bring expertise in health services research and provide settings for intensive training and mentorship opportunities for trainees.

• The  Berkeley Center for Health Technology (BCHT) , co-directed by Dr. James Robinson (Director) and Dr. Tim Brown (Associate Director), promotes the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare through research and education on the development, insurance coverage, payment, and appropriate use of medical technologies. The focus of BCHT is on biopharmaceuticals, implantable medical devices, insurance benefit design, and payment methods. Research initiatives include leadership roundtables, case studies of leading organizations, and econometric analyses of public and private data sources. BCHT helps stakeholders design a healthcare system that combines innovation and entrepreneurship with economic efficiency and social fairness.
• The UC Berkeley  Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare , co-directed by Dr. Richard Scheffler (Director) and Dr. Brent Fulton (Associate Director), focuses on consumer protection, affordability and access to healthcare, especially for low and middle-income individuals. The Petris Center also focuses on and the role of information in consumer choice, and regulation and competition within healthcare markets.  The research center is named after former California State Senator Nicholas Petris, who advocated strongly on behalf of California consumers for affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare.
• The UC Berkeley  Center for Healthcare Organizational and Innovation Research (CHOIR) , co-directed by Dr. Hector Rodriguez (Director) and Dr. Amanda Brewster (Associate Director) aspires to help make the U.S. healthcare system among the most responsive in the world through practice-based research and dissemination of evidence. CHOIR emphasizes innovations in healthcare delivery and assessment of organizational performance to improve the technical quality of care delivered, patient experience and outcomes of care, population health, and cost. CHOIR works to maximize their “voice” and impact through webinars, roundtables, and discussions with private and public sector action and thought leaders.
• The  Laboratory for Systems Medicine , directed by Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, applies methods from machine learning, biostatistics, and econometrics to the complex world of medical diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes. The center translates large observational datasets into new ways to understand and improve the life and death decisions that providers and patients make every day, in the US and across the world.
• The Center on the  Economics and Demography of Aging (CEDA) , directed by Professor William Dow, was founded in 1993 to promote interdisciplinary research on the economic and demographic aspects of aging.  In response to the growing demand from government agencies, Congress, and academic researchers for timely, accessible, and practical information as well as basic research. At the central core of CEDA is a group of outstanding formal and mathematical and statistical demographers who apply their skills to a variety of research areas, including biodemography, demographic modeling and forecasting, and intergenerational transfers including fiscal accounting. This central core is enriched by other themes, notably psychological and behavioral economics with applications to economic and health-related behaviors.
• The  UC-Berkeley Opportunity Lab (O-Lab) , co-directed by Professor Ben Handel and Professor Hilary Hoynes serves as the central research hub for Berkeley scholars conducting rigorous, data-driven research on social and economic inequality in the United States. Our network of faculty and graduate students work across disciplines and study a wide array of topics, from the role of childhood food security on long-term economic security to the disparate impacts of climate change on low-income communities.
• The UCSF  Center for Vulnerable Populations  at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital carries out innovative research to prevent and treat chronic disease in populations for whom social conditions often conspire to both promote various chronic diseases and make their management more challenging. Beyond the local communities it serves, CVP is nationally and internationally known for its research in health communication and health policy to reduce health disparities, with special expertise in the social determinants of health, including literacy, food policy, poverty, and minority status, with a focus on the clinical conditions of pre-diabetes, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.  CVP is at the frontline of practice-based research on chronic diseases for the diverse and disadvantaged populations of San Francisco and the Bay Area. UCSF faculty mentors Drs. Margot Kushel, Courtney Lyles, and Urmimala Sarkar are core CVP faculty.
• The  Healthforce Center  at UCSF was founded in 1992 to help healthcare leaders and  policymakers better understand the health workforce and develop successful strategies and policies. The Center’s dynamic leadership training programs have touched thousands of people across the entire healthcare ecosystem who continue to make significant and meaningful change in healthcare. UCSF Professor Janet Coffman and Professor Joanne Spetz are core faculty of the center.

Current Health Policy PhD Students

• Madeline Adee
• Alexander Adia
• Calvin Chiu
• Christine Lo
• Jorge A. Morales Alfaro
• Rachel Ross
• Jaclyn Schess
• Alex Schulte
• Eleanor Tsai
• Solis Winters
• 2023–2024 Job Market Candidates

Graduates of the UC Berkeley PhD Program in Health Policy (formerly “Health Services and Policy Analysis”) hold leading research and teaching positions at academic and research institutions both within the United States and internationally. Many of our alumni hold tenured or tenure-track positions at respected universities and colleges such as Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, UCSF, and Dartmouth College. Our recent alumni have also successfully obtained post-doctoral appointments at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Yale University, and Stanford University.

The following is a partial listing of PhD program alumni, their dissertation titles, and their current employment.

Jonathan Agnew, PhD Cost and Utilization of Outpatient Prescription Drugs Among the Elderly: Implications for a Medicare Benefit Owner and President, Agnew and Associates Medical Writing Vancouver, BC

Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia, PhD Professionalism among Physicians: Factors Associated with Outpatient Palliative Care Referral in a Managed Care Organization Senior Policy Researcher & Associate Director, Behavioral and Policy Sciences RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA

Jim Bellows, PhD Use of Worker’s Compensation Medical Care: Health Insurance Matters Managing Director Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute, Oakland CA

Aman Bhandari, PhD National Estimates and Predictors of Pharmacy Utilization and Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Expenditures in Underserved Populations Vice President, Data Strategy and Solutions, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA

Claire Boone, PhD Essays in Health and Behavioral Economics Postdoctoral Fellow University of Chicago

Timothy T. Brown, PhD Three Essays on the Labor Market for Nonphysician Clinicians Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management Associate Director of Research, Berkeley Center for Health Technology University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley CA

Sahai Burrowes, PhD Essays on the Political Impact of Development Assistance Allocation in Malawi Associate Professor of Public Health Touro University, Vallejo CA

Drew Cameron, PhD The effect of short-term subsidies on future demand for potable water in rural Bihar, India: A randomized controlled trial Assistant Professor of Public Health (Health Policy) Yale University School of Public Health

Lawrence Casalino, MD, PhD Medical Groups and Physician Organization; Physician-Hospital and Physician-Health Plan Relationships; Physician Organization and Quality Professor Emeritus of Population Health Sciences Weill Cornell Medical College

Aaron Caughey, MD, PhD Applications from Behavioral Economics to Decision Making in the Setting of Prenatal Diagnosis Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR

Paulette Cha, PhD Essays on Health Economics and Immigration Fellow Public Policy Institute of California

Susan Chapman, PhD The Experience of Returning to Work for Employed Women with Breast Cancer Professor, UCSF School of Nursing San Francisco, CA

Ann Chou, PhD Shared decision making: The selection process of treatment options and resulting quality of life implications for women with breast cancer Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, Health Sciences Center University of Oklahoma

Elizabeth Ciemins, PhD The Effect of Mental Health Parity on Children’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service Utilization in Massachusetts Director of Research and Analytics American Medical Group Association Foundation, Alexandria, VA

Janet Coffman, PhD All Capitated Systems are not Alike: Effects of Organizational Structure, Culture, and Climate on Medicaid Recipients Use of Inpatient Psychiatric Care Professor of Health Policy Institute for Health Policy Studies, UC San Francisco

Carrie Colla, PhD Effects of the San Francisco Employer Health Spending Mandate Professor of Health Economics Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover NH

Leeann Comfort, PhD Applications and Extensions of Organization Theory: The Context of Accountable Care Organizations Scientist Administrator, Social Science Researcher Division of Healthcare Delivery and Systems Research Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

David Contreras-Loya, PhD Managerial Practices and Altruism in Health Care Delivery Research Professor Escuela de Gobierno y Transformación Pública Tecnológico de Monterrey

Jan Cooper, PhD Money, Sex, and Power – An Analysis of Relationship Power in the Context of Conditional Cash Transfer Interventions to Reduce Risky Sex in Tanzania Researcher, Global Health and Policy Analysis Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Jae Corman, PhD Foreclosures and Health Senior Director of Analytics Folx Health

Alison Evans Cuellar, PhD Changing Markets and Hospital: Managed Care, Horizontal Integration and Vertical Alignment Professor of Health Administration and Policy Associate Dean of Research, College of Public Health George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Julie Dang, PhD Two Shots to Cancer Prevention: Improving the Uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine among Preadolescent Patients of a Primary Care Network Assistant Professor & Executive Director, Office of Community Outreach and Engagement UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center

Maria Dieci, PhD Patient vs. provider incentives for malaria care: A cluster randomized controlled trial in Kenyan pharmacies Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management Emory University

Ebbin Dotson, PhD The Business Case for Leadership Diversity in Health Care Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

April Falconi, PhD Perimenopause as a Sensitive Period for Women’s Health and Aging: A Review of the Chronic Disease Literature and Two Empirical Tests of Significance Associate Director, Elevance Health

Kevin Feeney, PhD Essays on Cash Transfers and Health Economist, Amazon Los Angeles, CA

Sara Fernandes-Taylor, PhD Provider Communication, Self-Reported Health, and Post-Treatment Regret among Young Breast Cancer Survivors Scientist III Department of Surgery University of Wisconsin School of Medicine

Robin Flagg, PhD Governor Decision Making: Expansion of Medicaid Under the Affordable Care Act Continuing Lecturer, Division of Health Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley

Jennifer Frehn, PhD Understanding the Influences and Organization of Systems to Improve Community Health Post-doctoral Research Fellow, School of Public Health UCLA

Vicki Fung, PhD The Effects of Losing Brand-Name Drug Coverage: Changes in Use of Inhaled Steroids and Clinical Outcomes Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Asthma Associate Professor of Medicine, Mongan Institute for Health Policy Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA

Daniel Gentry, PhD Organizational Bureaucracy, Legitimacy, and “Thrival”: A Study of the Response by AIDS Service Organizations in Twenty California Counties to the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990 President & CEO, Association of University Programs in Health Administration

Gabrielle Goldstein, JD, PhD A Market for Ethics Counsel Nixon Peabody LLP San Francisco, CA

Julia Goodman, PhD Three Essays on Maternity Leave Policies, Utilization and Consequences Assistant Professor of Public Health OHSU & Portland State University School of Public Health

Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, PhD Gender norms as a social determinant of health and well-being of married adolescent girls and young women in South Asia Postdoctoral Fellow UCSF

Ilana Graetz, PhD The Impact of EHR and Teamwork on Care Transitions and Patient Outcomes Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management Rollins School of Public Health Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Chaoran Guo, PhD Social Learning in Health Insurance Choices: Evidence from Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Senior Data Scientist, Netflix Los Gatos, CA

Emily Hague, PhD Antecedents and Outcomes Associated with Hospital Participation in a Clinically Integrated Network Health Policy Researcher Mathematica Policy Research, Oakland, CA

Courtnee Hamity, PhD Social Influence and Innovation Adoption in the Clinical Setting Senior Program Officer, Evaluation and Data Strategy Blue Shield of California Foundation, San Francisco, CA

Alein Haro-Ramos, PhD Racism, Illegality, and Population Health: Mechanisms, Interventions, & Community-Engaged Research UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Health, Society, and Behavior University of California, Irvine

Zoë K. Harris, PhD Private Health Insurance Sponsored Wellness Programs:  Examining Participation in the Healthy Lifestyle Rewards Financial Incentives Program on Health Care Costs, Utilization, and Risk Behaviors Executive Director, Head of Customer Engagement Strategy & Operations Genetech

Nianyi Hong, PhD Essays on Patient and Firm Behavior in Health Economics Analyst, Congressional Budget Office Washington, DC

Thomas Huber, PhD The Role of Micro and Macro Level Organizational Coordination in Accountable Care Organizations Adjunct Professor, The Ohio State University

Dorothy Hung, PhD Behavioral Preventive Service Delivery, Productivity, and Staff Turnover in Primary Care Practices: The Role of Participation in Decision Making and the Chronic Care Model Research Scientist and Director, Center for Lean and Engagement Research, School of Public Health University of California, Berkeley

Vanessa Hurley, PhD Collaborative Learning among Health Care Practice and Systems to Improve Patient-Centered Care Assistant Professor of Health Systems Administration Georgetown University

Jenny Hyun, PhD Person-Centered Care Program Philosophy in Capitated Community Mental Health Centers in Colorado Director, Business Intelligence Vituity, Emeryville, CA

Jennifer K. Ibrahim, PhD State Medicaid Coverage for Tobacco Dependence Treatments: Implications for a Federal Mandate Dean and Professor, College of Public Health and School of Social Welfare Temple University, Philadelphia PA

Jae Kennedy, PhD Americans Needing Assistance with Activities of Daily Living: Current Estimates and Policy Implications Professor of Health Policy and Administration Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Washington State University, Spokane WA

Jung Kim, PhD Examining factors associated with learning and performance in primary care Graduate Medical Education organizations Assistant Professor, Health Systems Science Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Margae Knox, PhD Health System Efforts to Address Health Related Social Needs: Implications for Public Health, Health Services Use, and Quality Outcomes Postdoctoral Delivery Science Fellow Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente

Heather Knauer, PhD Parenting and Child Development in Rural Mexico: Examination of a Large-Scale Parenting Program Adjunct Assistant Professor School of Social Work University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Ada Kwan, PhD Can We Improve Quality of Care in Private Health Sectors? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Kenya Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco

Susan Lehrman, PhD Hospitals’ Participation in the Nursing Home Market Professor and Dean Emeritus, Rohrer College of Business Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey

Jing Li, PhD Altruism and Efficiency Preferences of U.S Medical Students and their Expected Specialty Choice Assistant Professor of Health Economics School of Pharmacy, University of Washington

Rui Li, PhD Effect of Financial Incentives on Physician Productivity in Medical Groups Senior Economist, Division of Reproductive Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA

Michael Lin, PhD Nursing Home Quality: Structure and Strategy Senior Scientist, Telligen Denver, CO

Jenny Liu, PhD Healthy Time, Home Production, and Labor Supply: The Effect of Health Shocks on Time Use within Chinese Households during Economic Transition Professor of Health Economics School of Nursing University of California, San Francisco

Christopher Lowenstein, PhD Essays on labor markets and health: Employment conditions and drug, suicide, and alcohol-related mortality among working-age adults in the United States Postdoctoral Fellow, Epidemiology Stanford University

Martin Marciniak, PhD Too Good to Be True? The Effect of Nicotine Replacement Therapy on an Individual’s Ability to Quit Smoking Vice President and Head, US Health Outcomes Chiesi USA, Inc.

Soledad Martinez, PhD Income, Health Insurance Type and the Quality of Primary Care Systems in Chile: Effects on Health Outcomes and Utilization of Services Assistant Professor School of Public Health at Universidad de Chile, Santiago Chile

Jill Marsteller, PhD The Relationship between Non-Racial Diversity in Team Composition and Performance and Creativity in a Chronic Illness Care Quality Improvement Intervention Professor, Health Policy and Management Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Peter Martelli, PhD An Argument for Knowledge Variety in Evidence-Based Management Associate Professor of Healthcare Administration Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, Boston, MA

Sean McClellan, PhD When does Adoption of Health Information Technology by Physician Practices Lead to Use by Physicians within the Practice? Health Policy Researcher Abt and Associates, Boston, MA

Rodney K. McCurdy, PhD Network Influence on Chronic Illness Care in Large Physician Organization:  A Study of the California Managed Care Network in 2001 and 2006 Professor and Program Director National University Detroit, MI

Kathryn McDonald, PhD Ambulatory Care Organizations: Improving Diagnosis Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Nursing

Sara McMenamin, PhD Organizational Support for Smoking Cessation Interventions in Physician Organizations Associate Professor, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity University of California, San Diego

Angela Merrill, PhD Subjective Expectations of Nursing Home Use, Medicaid, and Economic Behavior by Older Americans Principal Researcher Mathematica Policy Research, Cambridge MA

Chris Miller-Rosales, PhD Advancing Organizational Capabilities to Improve Patient Engagement in Health Care Associate, Analysis Group Menlo Park, CA

Eric Nauenberg, PhD Air Pollution and Hospitalization for Asthma in Los Angeles County: Economic and Policy Implications Associate Professor of Health Economics Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care/Dept of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Canada

Zachary Olson, PhD Can a Conditional Cash Transfer Reduce Teen Fertility? The Case of Brazil’s Bolsa Familia Senior Economist, Amazon Seattle, WA

Michael K. Ong, MD, PhD The Effects of Regulatory Change on the Safety of Pharmaceutical Innovations Professor in Residence, Division of GIM & HSR Associate Chief of Staff for Research Department of Medicine, UCLA and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA

Laura Packel, PhD Who Changes How: Strategies and Motivation for Risk Reduction Behaviors in the Context of an Economic-based HIV Prevention Intervention in Tanzania Research Director, McCoy Research Group University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health

Mary Paterson, PhD Financial Status of Retiree Caregivers: An Analysis of the Asset Structure of the Retiree Caregiver Professor Emeritus, School of Nursing The Catholic University of America, Washington DC

Krista Perreira, PhD Exits, Recidivism, and Caseload Growth: The Effect of Private Health Insurance Markets on the Demand for Medicaid Professor of Health Economics University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine

Dana Petersen, PhD Social Capital, Social Support, and Quality of Life among Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors Senior Researcher Mathematic Policy Research, Oakland CA

Aryn Phillips, PhD The Impact of Retail Availability on Health Behaviors: Policy Applications for the Prevention & Management of Chronic Conditions Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management School of Public Health University of Maryland, College Park

Kathryn Phillips, PhD Public Policy and Screening: The Influence of State Policies on Utilization of Human Autoimmunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Screening Professor of Health Economics and Health Services Research UCSF School of Pharmacy, San Francisco CA

Jessica Poon, PhD Multilevel Pathways to Patient-Centered Care Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Research Kaiser Permanente

Alexis Pozen, PhD Price Variation for Colonoscopy in a Commercially Insured Population Assistant Professor City University of New York School of Public Health New York NY

Brian Quinn, PhD The Effect of Community-Level Unemployment On Preventive Oral Health Care Utilization Associate Vice President, Research-Evaluation-Learning The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton NJ

Nadia Safaeinili, PhD Evaluation of a statewide integrated medical and social service case management policy innovation: A multi-level assessment of equitable implementation for frontline staff and high-risk, high-need Medicaid patients Research Scientist, School of Medicine Stanford University

Robert Schell, PhD Understanding the Role of Socioeconomic, Health Behavioral, and Genetic Factors in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Associate, Analysis Group Menlo Park, CA

Julie Schmittdiel, PhD The Effect on Primary Health Care Orientation on Chronic Care Management Research Scientist and Associate Director of Health Care Delivery and Policy Division of Research Kaiser Permanente Northern California Oakland CA

John Schneider, PhD Regulation and Regulatory Reform in the U.S. Hospital Industry, 1980-1996 CEO and Founder Avalon Health Economics, Morristown NJ

Neil J. Sehgal, PhD Social Influences on Healthcare Outcomes in a Major Academic Medical Center Associate Professor of Health Systems and Population Health School of Public Health, University of Washington

Tetine Sentell, PhD Literacy, Health, and Health Services Use in a Nationally Representative Sample Chin Sik & Hyun Sook Chung Endowed Chair Department of Health Policy and Management Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health

Gordon Shen, PhD Global Mental Health Policy Diffusion, Institutionalization, and Innovation Assistant Professor of Management, Policy and Community Health The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health

Timothy Snail, PhD The Effects of Hospital Contracting for Physician Services on Hospital Performance Vice President, Charles River Associates Boston, MA

Sean Sullivan, PhD The Demand for Prescription Drugs in Elderly Americans Professor of Health Economics and Dean Emeritus School of Pharmacy, University of Washington

Aaron Tierney, PhD Virtual Diabetes and Hypertension Care in Community Health Centers: Use, Quality, and Patient Preferences Clinical Informatics Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Research Kaiser Permanente

Yi-Wen Tsai, PhD Cigarette Taxation, National Health Insurance Professor, Institute of Health and Welfare Policy National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan

Lauren van der Walt, PhD Increasing Women’s Access to Information about Safe Abortion Methods through Local and Global Hotlines Executive Director, Optio Berkeley, CA

Megan Vanneman, PhD Consequences of Devolution: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity in California’s County-based Public Mental Health Care System Assistant Professor of Medicine and Population Health Sciences University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Todd Wagner, PhD The Economics of Consumer Health Information Director, Health Economics Resource Center Department of Veterans Affairs Professor of Surgery Stanford University

Zachary Wagner, PhD Community Health Workers to Increase Use of ORS and Zinc to Treat Child Diarrhea in Uganda: A Cluster Randomized Trial Associate Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA

Neal Wallace, PhD A Production Function Approach to Mental Health Service Coordination in California’s Publicly Financed Mental Health System Professor of Health Systems Management and Policy OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health

Jessica Watterson, PhD Influences on the Effectiveness of Health Information Technology Innovations in Primary Health Care Senior Research Fellow in Public Health Monash University Melbourne, Australia

Christopher M. Whaley, PhD The Effects of Consumer Information and Cost-Sharing on Healthcare Prices Policy Researcher RAND Corporation

Justin White, PhD A Team-Based Behavioral Economics Experiment on Smoking Cessation Associate Professor of Health Economics Department of Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health Boston University

Frances Wu, PhD The Role of Health Information Technology in Early Accountable Care Organizations in the U.S. Research Associate, The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Jill Yegian, PhD Politics, Economics, and Organizational Innovation in the Small Group Market for Health Insurance Principal, Yegian Health Insights, LLC Oakland, CA

Myoungsoon You, PhD Determinants of Risk Perception among Women with a Family History of Breast Cancer Professor Seoul National University, Korea

Jim Zazzali, PhD Executive Director, Head of Health Policy and Systems Research, and Modeling Genentech

Maya Lozinski

University of chicago, md-phd in health economics admissions – phd departments.

This is a continuation of my series on joint degrees in medicine and social sciences, in response to frequently asked questions from undergraduates.

Health economics can be studied in numerous types of PhD departments, with a range of flavors.  Here I have listed some of the key considerations when deciding where to pursue a PhD.  I then discuss how these vary between Economics Department, Public Policy Schools, and Public Health Schools

Key Considerations:

• Coursework: Coursework will consume a substantial amount of your time as an early PhD student. Those courses should teach skills and subject matter you want to learn.
• Peer and Faculty Research Interests: Your peers and faculty will shape your research topics and provide critical feedback on your work. Your will have to convince them your research is interesting and robust. Their perspective and research background will profoundly shape your research questions and taste.
• General Pros and Cons: Some additional considerations to have in mind.

Economics Departments and Business Schools

• Coursework: Macroeconomics, microeconomics, theory-oriented econometrics (first year); Economics field courses in topics such as labor economics, public economics, industrial organization, etc. (second year).
• Peer and Faculty Research Interests: Similar to field course topics. Industrial organization, trade, behavioral economics, macroeconomics, labor economics, etc.
• Pros: Arguably the most prestigious. Most robust training in economic and statistical theory. Broad training lets you easily bring new methods and concepts to health economics. Easier to get jobs in a range of departments across the spectrum.
• Cons: Very little of the material covered in courses will explicitly health focused (<10%). Vast majority of your audience be economists who don’t know or care that much about healthcare. You will need to convince them why your research topic is interesting and applicable outside of healthcare (They will not be satisfied if your research question *only* addresses an important problem in healthcare; the problem must also be broadly “economically interesting”).   Most of your audience will think JAMA (and other top medical journals) are second rate journals.

Public Policy Departments

• Coursework: Microeconomics and causal inference oriented econometrics (first year); Economics field courses and various elective courses as desired (e.g. methods courses in CS or stats; Subject matter courses on energy, environment, education, etc).
• Peer and Faculty Research Interests: Applied microeconomics on topics such as crime, international development, social programs, educations, healthcare, etc.
• Pros: Robust training in economic and statistical methods. Training is more applied and less theoretical, with more direct applicability to health. Broad training lets you port new methods and concepts from subjects to health. For example, the techniques used to study judicial sentencing and teacher performance can be adapted to study physicians. More respect for applied problems. One can generally move to a healthcare policy or management department afterwards (transitions to economics department seem to be more challenging).
• Cons: A minority of material covered in courses will be health focused (<20%). Again, most of your classmates will not study healthcare, so there will still be some pressure to make you research “economically interesting” outside of healthcare. Finally, nobody understands what a “Public Policy” degree is (I just tell people I study health economics to avoid confusion over the term “Public Policy”).

Healthcare Policy and Management Departments

• Coursework: Statistics and Econometrics; Microeconomics; Introduction to the US Healthcare system.
• Peer and Faculty Research Interests: Healthcare policy, healthcare management, healthcare administration, etc.
• Pros: The training is more focused on healthcare. People will respect if you work on big problems healthcare, even if they are “only” relevant in the context of healthcare. Peers and faculty will have a much higher baseline level of knowledge about the healthcare system. You may have more support and resources to draw on for navigating complex healthcare datasets and institutional details.
• Cons: Overall, the training is more narrowly focused on health economics and domain specific healthcare knowledge. You may not get as broad a perspective on methods, theories, and issues in other areas of economics (e.g. labor, IO, etc). On the one hand this saves a lot of time that would be spent learning irrelevant material. On the other hand, it may limit your ability to arbitrage across fields, by bringing new developments in, say, public economics, to health economics.

Public Health Schools (Health Services/Health Economics Track)

• Coursework: Biostatistics, Health Services Research methods (very applied, relatively non-theoretical causal inference methods), Introduction to the US Healthcare System, Epidemiology, Introduction to Grant Writing
• Peer and Faculty Research Interests: Health services research in various areas, biostatistics, epidemiology.
• Pros: Research is often more clinically relevant. Formal curriculum includes grant writing (nearly 100% of MD-PhDs researchers are in grant funded departments, even if they study social sciences) and faculty are also expert advisors in grant writing. People have more respect for domain specific knowledge, which is a strength/interest of MD-PhD students.
• Cons: Researchers from public health schools often end up more narrowly focused on a very specific domain of health or healthcare (similar to healthcare management schools). They become experts in the payment systems for exactly one type of healthcare, such as nursing homes, or the costs of various drugs for specific type of cancer. Domain specific knowledge is highly useful, but it can come at the cost of more rigorous economics training. The research is often deeper in the weeds and contextually rich but sometimes lacks a connection to the fundamental economic forces at work. Research agendas tends to focus around a domain topic (e.g. cancer drug costs), rather than a particular method or theoretical approach. Also, it may be challenging to move to the other types of departments discussed previously from a public health department.

Final Thoughts :

• The best training path is the one that fits your interests. If you don’t know what that is, look where researchers you admire did their training (Important Note: This often fairly different from where they work now. Most economists in public health schools did their PhD in healthcare policy departments and most economists at health policy departments did their PhDs at Economics/Business schools).
• In my observation, people tend to move in the direction of studying more applied problems over the course of their research career. One’s PhD is often the high-water mark of theoretical and, for many, cutting edge methodological knowledge.
• Transitions seem to be easier in the direction of: Economics (most theoretical, least applied) à public policy à healthcare management à public health (least theoretical, most applied).
• A reasonable strategy is to aim for a program which is slightly more theoretical and less applied than the work you ultimately aspire to do. One advisor told me that you need to overtrain a bit for the research that you want to do. You should always aim to use research methods that you understand more than strictly necessary, theories which you know forwards and backwards, etc. This strategy helps you avoid mistakes and do robust research.
• All that said, when picking a PhD department, there’s no wrong choice of discipline! People do creative and impactful work in all varieties of methods, subject areas, and disciplines.

• Health Policy and Economics

Our  Master of Science track in Health Policy and Economics  is not like your generic public health degree — in fact, far from it. We train students to become leading policy analysts and researchers working to identify the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high quality healthcare. Students learn to apply advanced research methods such as biostatistics, econometrics, and decision science to evaluate policies and programs while gaining valuable real-world experience under the guidance of a healthcare expert during the culminating capstone project.

This track provides a strong foundation in healthcare research methods with specialized training in health economics, health policy, data analytics, and implementation science. Each student acquires hands-on experience through a faculty-mentored research project that begins in the first term and culminates in a capstone/portfolio final project.

This track also has close ties to other departments within Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, Cornell Tech, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Full-time students can complete the program in 12 months, and part-time students in 18-24 months.

Unique Program

There are great differences between an M.P.H. and our M.S. track in Health Policy and Economics. M.P.H. programs tend to place greater emphasis on public health and epidemiology; contrastingly, we emphasize a broader policy perspective to include payment policy, health insurance coverage, and structural issues related to the healthcare delivery system. Additionally, our program is mostly practice-based while M.P.H. programs tend to be more theoretical. Our goal is to prepare professionals to work effectively in health-related policy positions and serve as well-trained healthcare researchers with strong analytic skills.

We keep our class size and student-to-faculty ratio low so that our students get the most personalized experience possible. Because of this, close mentorship with a faculty member throughout the entirety of the program is provided to all of our students. Many even continue their relationship well beyond becoming alumni and working in their careers.

Opportunities

Our alumni hold positions in data and policy analysis, healthcare consulting, project management, quality improvement, and more. Our alumni are also well-prepared to pursue doctoral studies.

Students learn to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to financing and delivering healthcare using cutting edge research methods, while gaining hands-on experience in data analysis.

Understanding how incentives present in the nation’s healthcare system – from ways that physicians and hospitals are reimbursed to the regulatory requirements for the development and approval of new drugs and medical devices – influence the cost and quality of care is essential to keep up with the changing healthcare landscape and to provide the best care possible. Utilizing cutting-edge statistical approaches, our students learn to conduct rigorous analyses with healthcare data using computing packages such as SAS, Stata, and R. The results of these analyses allow them to better comprehend how changes in health policy and new interventions in the delivery of care may improve the health of people across the country.

Our students have diverse backgrounds including social sciences, basic sciences, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and healthcare administration. Their diversity creates a unique, collaborative learning environment.

Collaboration

Being in New York City is a huge asset for our program. Local institutions collaborating with Weill Cornell Medicine include NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Hospital for Special Surgery, The Rockefeller University, the State Department of Health, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and more.

Our faculty are nationally recognized experts in health policy, economics, health services research, biostatistics, health informatics, cost-effectiveness, and comparative-effectiveness. Our NYC location allows for collaboration between experts and researchers at neighboring institutions such as NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The culminating capstone project allows students to gain valuable, real-world experience under the guidance of leading healthcare experts to address problems faced by our healthcare system.

Student Handbook

To view the student handbook, click here .

Master's Tracks

• Biostatistics and Data Science
• Health Informatics

Apply to Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School

Contact information.

Chair's Office 402 East 67th Street New York, NY 10065 (646) 962-8009

425 East 61st Street New York, NY 10065 (646) 962-9409

• Weill Cornell Medicine

MS in Health Policy and Economics

Training students to identify the most effective ways of delivering high-quality healthcare at lower cost.

Our MS in Health Policy and Economics program provides a modern take on the traditional public health degree. Students learn to identify the most effective ways of delivering high-quality healthcare at lower cost through valuable real-world experience. This program provides students with a strong understanding of healthcare organization and delivery within the context of the current policy environment with specialized training in health economics, health policy, and analytic methods. Each student is paired with a faculty member for hands-on research that culminates with a capstone/portfolio project.

Unique Concentration

The MS in Health Policy and Economics program offers a more specialized approach than a traditional MPH program. We emphasize a broader policy perspective to include payment policy, health insurance coverage and structural issues related to the healthcare delivery system. Our coursework is more practice-based than theoretical. We keep our class size low so that students can build close relationships with faculty mentors  who are nationally and internationally recognized experts. Our goal is to prepare professionals to work effectively in health-related policy positions with strong analytic skills. Our alumni hold positions in data and policy analysis, healthcare consulting, project management, quality improvement, and more. Many have also gone on to pursue doctoral studies at leading institutions, including Brown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Chicago.

Our students learn innovative approaches to financing and delivering healthcare using cutting edge research methods.

During the MS in Health Policy and Economics program, students will: 

• Develop a deep understanding of current policy initiatives.
• Gain hands-on experience in data analysis using computing packages, such as SAS, Stata, and R. 
• Address real-world healthcare problems through a hands-on capstone project.
• Understand factors that influence the quality and cost of healthcare.
• Build connections under the mentorship of experts while collaborating with NYC institutions that will shape their careers.

The MS in Health Policy and Economics program has close ties to other departments within Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, Cornell Tech, and NewYork-Presbyterian. Students can complete the program in 11 months.

Prerequisites for Admission

Information sessions, alumni outcomes, program director.

Mark Unruh, PhD

HPE 1 Year Student - Recommended Curriculum Progression

Students are recommended to follow the schedule below in order to ensure eligibility for graduation. The Education Team will monitor progression, but it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to track their progression to ensure they meet graduation requirements. Course offerings and course availability are subject to change.

Typical course load is 12 credits

Introduction to Biostatistics with STATA Lab (HBDS 5001) OR Biostatistics I with R Lab (HBDS 5005) - Required

Introduction to Biostatistics with STATA Lab Course Director:  Arindam RoyChoudhury, PhD 4 credits

An introduction to the fundamentals of biostatistics with primary emphasis on understanding of statistical concepts behind data analytic principles. This course will be accompanied with a Stata lab to explore, visualize and perform statistical analysis with data. Lectures and discussions will focus on the following: exploratory data analysis; basic concepts of statistics; construction of hypothesis tests and confidence intervals; the development of statistical methods for analyzing data; and development of mathematical models used to relate a response variable to explanatory or descriptive variables.

Biostatistics I with R Lab Course Director:  Xi Kathy Zhou, PhD 4 credits

This course provides an introduction to important topics in biostatistical concepts and reasoning. Specific topics include tools for describing central tendency and variability in data, probability distributions, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis testing. Assignments will involve computation using the R programming language.

Introduction to US Healthcare Policy & Delivery (HPEC 5001) - Required

Course Director: Arian Jung, PhD 3 credits

This course provides an introduction to basic economic concepts associated with health care and current policy issues facing the US health care system. Topics will include the historical foundations of the health care system, how the health care sector differs from other markets, financing of health care and the role of government, the structure and functions of public and private health insurance, economic components of the delivery system, and understanding the challenges of health care reform. These topics will be examined from the view of payers, providers, and regulators, and the interactions of these stakeholders. Students will also be introduced to international comparisons of health care systems.

Introduction to Health Services Research (HBDS 5002) - Required

Course Director: Jiani Yu, PhD 3 credits

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of health services research. Health services research is the discipline that measures the evaluations of interventions designed to improve healthcare. These interventions can include changes to the organization, delivery and financing of health care and various healthcare policies. Common outcome measures in health services research include (but are not limited to) patient safety, healthcare quality, healthcare utilization, and cost. Specific topics to be covered in this course include: refining your research question, identifying common research designs and their strengths and weaknesses, minimizing bias and confounding, selecting data sources, optimizing measurement, and more. There will also be a component of the course that explores how to present your 9 ideas and iteratively refine your work, based on feedback from peers and reviewers. This course includes both lectures and interactive group discussions. Students will be able to apply the methods learned in this course to their masters’ research projects.

Master’s Project 1 (HCPR 9010) - Required

Course Director: Faculty 2 credit

This is the culminating capstone course of all masters-level graduate education programs. It has two aims: (1) helping students to discover and develop new and effective ways of managing and working together with all the stakeholders within the healthcare field and (2) helping accelerate a student's development of 12 the context awareness, integrative management, and industry skills that are needed to lead in a rapidly changing healthcare sector. This capstone course puts students in a new organization, one they don’t already know well, and gives them the chance to practice hitting the ground running. This culminating course provides a deeper preparation for the next stages of a student's career. The capstone project will last the entire year: the first term involves matching students with the right project, the second term has students working with their client, and the third term consists of a detailed report and final presentation in front of the client as well as faculty and fellow classmates.

Healthcare in the US - Policymaking and Political Strategy (HINF 5014) - Elective

Course Director: Sam Solomon 3 credits

The US healthcare system is in the midst of transformational changes that have been catalyzed in part by the continued effects of the Affordable Care Act and the 2008 recession. This course will look at the major trends occurring in healthcare from a provider viewpoint, how leaders are both responding to and anticipating these changes, and how these changes will shape the healthcare system of the future. The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the nature and context of the changes happening in healthcare, while also offering real-world perspectives from industry leaders who will speak to how they are adapting to and even shaping these changes in their roles. Upon completing this course, both clinical and non-clinical students will have gained greater insight into the healthcare system, which they will be able to apply to their current and future roles.

Spring Term 

Typical Course load is 12 or 15 credits

Health Data for Research (SAS) (HPEC 5003) - Required

Course Director: Mark Unruh, PhD 3 credits

Addresses challenges in the use of electronic clinical data for research purposes, such as electronic health records, clinical data warehouses, electronic prescribing, clinical decision support systems and health information exchange. Students will learn how clinical processes generate data in these different systems, the tasks required to obtain data for research purposes and steps to prepare data for analysis. Examples of research uses of clinical data will be drawn from case studies in the literature. Students will acquire skills in data review, preparation and analysis through hands-on experience with clinical data.

Introduction to Applied Econometrics for Health Policy (HPEC 5004) - Required

Course Director: Angelica Meinhofer, PhD 3 credits

Prerequisites: Biostatistics I or Introduction to Biostatistics With an emphasis on empirical applications, this course equips students with the tools necessary to empirically analyze non-experimental data at levels often required in professional environments. Applied Econometrics for Health Policy is designed with twin objectives in mind. The first is to provide students with the ability to critically analyze the empirical analysis done by others at a level sufficient to make intelligent decisions about how to use that analysis in the design of health policy. The second is to provide students with the skills necessary to perform empirical analysis on their own, or to participate on a team involved in such empirical analysis. Students will become proficient in using multiple regression analysis using cross-sectional and panel data, including in ways that provide causal interpretation.

Master’s Project 2 (HCPR 9020) - Required

Course Director: Faculty 3 credits

This is the culminating capstone course of all masters-level graduate education programs. It has two aims: (1) helping students to discover and develop new and effective ways of managing and working together with all the stakeholders within the healthcare field and (2) helping accelerate a student's development of the context awareness, integrative management, and industry skills that are needed to lead in a rapidly changing healthcare sector. This capstone course puts students in a new organization, one they don’t already know well, and gives them the chance to practice hitting the ground running. This culminating course provides a deeper preparation for the next stages of a student's career. The capstone project will last the entire year: the first term involves matching students with the right project, the second term has students working with their client, and the third term consists of a detailed report and final presentation.

Cost Effectiveness Analysis (HPEC 5005) - Elective

Course Director: Ali Jalali, PhD, MA 3 credits

Prerequisites: Biostatistics I or Introduction to Biostatistics The cost effectiveness analysis course is a 2 part course. The first part provides an overview of techniques used to understand medical decision making under uncertainty. Participants will learn how to structure decision analysis questions, construct decision trees, and analyze outcomes using probability. The second part provides an in-depth exposure to techniques used to conduct economic evaluations of health care technologies and programs. Participants learn how to critique economic evaluations using costeffectiveness approaches and are introduced to tools they can use to apply these techniques in their own research projects.

Incentives in the US Healthcare System (HPEC 5007) - Elective

Course Director: Yuhua Bao, PhD 3 credits

Economic incentives embedded in the health care system shape the behaviors of key stakeholders. This course provides an overview and analysis of incentives in the current US health care system for consumers/patients, health care providers, payers and insurers, and other stakeholders such as pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Discussion centers around how the medical care market differs from markets for other goods and services and how incentives interact to affect health care delivery and outcomes. We then use the lens of incentives to examine the rationale and consequences – both intended and unintended – of major reform models designed to align incentives with improving the quality and experience of care while containing the growth of health care costs.

Summer Term

Typical course load is 9 or 12 credits

Application in Econometrics and Data Analysis (HPEC 5010) - Required

Course Director: Amelia Bond, PhD 3 credits

This course has two aims. First, to introduce students to fundamental health economic topics The course is designed is accomplish these two aims using a three-pronged approached. (1) Lectures: The first half of the course will introduce a health economic topic that will provide context for the class (2) Course readings: The second half of the course will focus on one or two class readings that both relate to the (3) Course assignments: There will be a small number of course assignments that will require students to use Stata.

Master’s Project 3 (HCPR 9030) - Required

This is the culminating capstone course of all masters-level graduate education programs. It has two aims: (1) helping students to discover and develop new and effective ways of managing and working together with all the stakeholders within the healthcare field and (2) helping accelerate a student's development of the context awareness, integrative management, and industry skills that are needed to lead in a rapidly changing healthcare sector. This capstone course puts students in a new organization, one they don’t already know well, and gives them the chance to practice hitting the ground running. This culminating course provides a deeper preparation for the next stages of a student's career. The capstone project will last the entire year: the first term involves matching students with the right project, the second term has students working with their client, and the third term consists of a detailed report and final presentation in front of the client as well as faculty and fellow classmates.

Study Designs and Comparative Effectiveness (HPEC 5006) - Elective

Course Director: Alvin Mushlin M.D., Sc.M. 3 credits

This course will cover the conceptual underpinnings, the policy context, and the methods for comparative effectiveness research (CER) highlighting key issues and controversies. It will provide students with an understanding of the analytic methods and data resources used to conduct comparative effectiveness research. Topics that will be discussed include, observational studies, risk adjustment, propensity score matching, instrumental variables, meta-analysis/systematic reviews and the use of clinical registries and electronic health record data. Students will learn why comparative research has come to prominence, what constitutes good comparative effectiveness research, the main methods used and the advantages and disadvantages of each without being a statistics course. Sessions will consist of lectures from the instructors and experts on selected topics, as well as student discussions and presentations.

Survey Research Methods (HPEC 5008) - Elective

Course Director: Sze Yan Liu, PhD, MPH 3 credits

This course is intended to familiarize students with the theory and application of survey research methods, with an emphasis on application. It will lead students through the process of developing their own survey. Topics will include survey populations and sampling, development of survey instruments, survey administration, post-survey processing and data analysis. Recurring themes throughout these topics are common errors in surveys, their consequences for findings and strategies to minimize these errors in survey design. Students will learn to develop an original research proposal featuring a survey questionnaire as well as critically evaluate existing surveys. The course will be tailored to the specific needs and problems of participants to the extent possible.

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Student Spotlights from this Program

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wei -Hsuan Tseng w orked as a pharmacist at a hospital in Taiwan. Wh ile grateful for her role in help ing patients navigate the health system , she witnessed firsthand the impact socioeconomic status can have on access to care . S he was motivated to learn about barriers to care , such as rising cost s of medication and treatment and p olicy decisions affecting patient care. S he pursued an MS in Health Policy and Economics at Wei ll Cornell Medicine (WCM ) and is  now a healthcare policy data analyst at Acumen, LLC.  

As a certified EMT, Amaar Asif works twelve-hour shifts transporting patients to and from the hospital. He’s noticed, however, that a ten-minute ride can cost $2000. As a prospective emergency room physician and student in the  MS in Health Policy and Economics program  at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), Amaar plans to advocate for change that prevents costs like those.   

Born in Italy and raised in California, Stefan Masselink has had a global view from a young age. A medical mission trip in high school highlighted medicine’s fundamentally altruistic nature. Now, Stefan is enrolled in the  health policy and economics track  of the MS in Healthcare Policy and Research program at WCM. He hopes to better understand healthcare as a driver of research and innovation, a stage for political reform, and one of the country’s largest industries.

View all Student Spotlights

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Health Care Economics

What You'll Learn

The course will be delivered via HBS Online’s course platform and immerse learners in real-world examples from experts at industry-leading organizations. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Articulate the drivers of spending and spending growth in health care and evaluate how your organization’s strategy and decision-making processes impact total spending and value
• Describe approaches to getting the incentives right for both providers and patients and evaluate the impacts of changes to these incentives
• Understand risk and pooling as they relate to insurance markets and health benefit design
• Define the role of employers, insurers, and government in influencing the economics of health care markets, such as spending, access to care, and stability of insurance markets
• Explain how technology and patients’ and providers’ decisions contribute to high spending and spending growth, and how they impact their own organizations.

About the Professor

Michael Chernew, PhD, is the Leonard D. Schaeffer Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chernew’s research examines several areas related to improving the health care system, including studies of novel benefit designs, Medicare Advantage, alternative payment models, low-value care, and the causes and consequences of rising health care spending. Dr. Chernew is currently serving as Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), where he previously served as the Vice Chair and as a Member. In 2000, 2004, and 2010, he served on technical advisory panels for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that reviewed the assumptions used by Medicare actuaries to assess the financial status of Medicare trust funds. He's a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors and Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Health Connector Board. Dr. Chernew is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Senior Visiting Fellow at MITRE. He's currently a co-editor of the American Journal of Managed Care and on advisory boards for several private companies in the health care space, including Virta Health, Archway, and HEALTH[at]SCALE.

Who Will Benefit

Rising leaders.

Develop a comprehensive understanding of the health care landscape, including the key drivers of rising health care spending.

Administrators and Policy Makers

Gain insights into strategic decisions around new business initiatives, health benefit plans, reimbursement contract negotiations, and care delivery models.

Understand the financial impacts of new technologies and services and how to create value-based care for patients.

Program Structure

Health Care Economics consists of approximately 20 hours of material delivered over a six-week period. You can complete the coursework on your own time while meeting regular deadlines.

Medical professionals who complete the course are eligible for 19.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ through Harvard Medical School. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will have access to register and claim their credits through the Harvard Medical School’s continuing education platform.

Health Care Economics is part of the Strategy Learning Track . If you’re interested in developing deeper insights and expertise, you can choose to complete three strategy courses within 18 months to earn a Certificate of Specialization.

Even for those within the health care industry, the economics of the United States health care system are stunningly complex and can be challenging to navigate. In Health Care Economics, gain insights into the interactions between industries in the health care sector and learn what economic forces are shaping health care. You'll cover core topics, such as moral hazard and adverse selection, and examine how these forces, as well as the actions of patients, providers, and other key stakeholders, shape outcomes in the health care market. This course will examine health care spending growth, considering new technologies and other drivers of growth through an economic lens, and explore the theoretical framework behind controlling health care spending growth through changes to benefit design and payment reform.

Health Care Economics features real-world examples, interactive lessons, and conversations with industry experts. This course allows you to better understand core economic principles as you learn to create more compelling programs, develop more effective growth strategies, negotiate better reimbursement contracts and partnerships, and advocate more effectively both inside and outside your organization.

Learning requirements : In order to earn a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Online, participants must thoughtfully complete all 6 modules by stated deadlines.

Download Syllabus

The HBS Online Advantage

• World-class faculty
• Edge-of-your-seat online learning
• Global peer collaboration and networking
• Real-world, case-based learning

Harvard Business School Online offers a unique and highly engaging way to learn vital business concepts. Immerse yourself in real challenges faced by business leaders across a variety of industries. You’ll wrestle with the same issues and imperfect information, while problem-solving and interacting with fellow learners from around the world.

Stories from Our Learners

This is an amazing course. The professor did a fantastic job dissecting the complexities of healthcare into chewable junks that made it easier to understand the complexities.

I felt the course covered a good overall scope and understanding of healthcare economics and would be beneficial for anyone seeking or needing a greater understanding of the stakeholders and forces at work in the healthcare sector. This applies for those new to healthcare as well as those who have worked in the industry for long periods of time.

This is now my fourth HBS online course that I have taken. I love the format that lets me learn asynchronously when I have time in my busy schedule. The HBS courses do a wonderful job encouraging interaction with peer learners which amplifies the learning. The HBS courses foster this peer engagement much more effectively than I have found in other online courses that I have taken.

Request More Information

Sign up to receive additional information about this course. Find out what other learners are doing with the skills they gained, and evaluate if this course is the right fit for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to log in at a set time? How does the grading process work? At this point, you probably have a few questions, and we’ve got answers.

Enrollment Eligibility

Our easy online application is free, and no special documentation is required. All applicants must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the course. We confirm enrollment eligibility within one week of your application.

Enroll today in Harvard Online's Health Care Economics course.

University of Washington

Health Systems and Population Health

School of public health.

• Health Services Doctor of Philosophy
• Academic Experience
• Academic Programs

Advance the Future of Public Health Research

3-5 years / full time / seattle, wa.

The University of Washington Health Services Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program trains the next generation of health services researchers and prepares them to become leaders in the field. Our graduates pursue research careers in top-tier universities, research and policy-making organizations, the health care industry, and government agencies. Recognizing the complex issues facing health services today and tomorrow, Health Services Ph.D. faculty and staff are committed to training students who will contribute to the health of diverse populations by producing high-quality, collaborative research on important topics and translating the results to practice and policy.

The Health Services Ph.D. program consistently ranks among the best in the United States. Our program offers exceptional instruction in research methods, evaluation, health care systems, health policy research, anti-racism, and the social determinants of health (the conditions of where people live, learn, work, worship and/or play).

Join our program and help make a difference in public health research.

Gain Unique Training

Our interdisciplinary Ph.D. program stands apart from others because of our team, curriculum, dedication to including anti-racist pedagogy in classrooms, and ongoing support for students and alumni.

Advance Public Health Research

All Ph.D. students are required to write a dissertation that significantly advances the state of knowledge in their chosen field, including having work published in academic journals.

Receive Expert Mentorship

Faculty are involved locally, nationally, and internationally in health services research and policy. They play an important role in improving health and shaping health care systems and policy worldwide.

Join Our Success

Our program attracts and welcomes strong scholars from unique and diverse backgrounds who have a passion for research. We aim to match each incoming student with funding and strong mentorship.

Application Dates

Application Opens September 1, 2024

Deadline December 15, 2024

Note: The program is no longer accepting applications for Autumn 2024 entry.

Information Sessions

Prospective Health Services Ph.D. students can register for and attend an information session to learn more about the program.

Stay Up-to-Date

Considering the Health Services PhD program? Sign up to receive email updates about upcoming application deadlines and more.

Alumni Connections

Health Services Ph.D. alumni can stay connected, learn about what their peers are doing, and support future public health professionals.

Our Social Media

Support students.

Help support future public health leaders today! Make a gift to a scholarship fund, such as the Health Systems Excellence, Equity, and Distinction (HSEED) Award.

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Course type

Qualification, university name, phd degrees in health economics.

15 degrees at 14 universities in the UK.

Customise your search

Select the start date, qualification, and how you want to study

About Postgraduate Health Economics

Health economics focuses on how financial resources are allocated in order to improve and optimise healthcare outcomes. Health economists examine the costs and benefits of healthcare services, analysing factors which inform healthcare policymaking. Studying a PhD in health economics represents the highest level of academic work within the field and involves extensive research into an area of interest.

There are 13 universities in the UK which offer a PhD in health economics. As a top-level research degree, admission requirements typically include a very strong undergraduate degree in a related subject and a master’s level qualification is often preferred. Significant experience in the field is usually expected and candidates also need to submit a proposal for their research work or join an existing research group active at the university.

What to Expect

You can expect to perform extensive research in the economic aspects of healthcare; a lot of this work will be self-directed. You’ll read a large quantity of research papers and information sources into your field of choice while developing your dissertation, which is usually between 60,000-80,000 words in length. PhD courses typically take between three and six years to complete and in this time, you’ll learn advanced research methods and develop superb written skills, as you communicate your research through your writing.

Assessment can include essays, presentations and oral exams; however, the dissertation is the main form of assessment. After submitting it, you’ll come back later and formally defend it against an academic panel. Once this is done, the PhD is complete and you’ll be considered a specialist in your area of research, confidently able to find senior roles in a wide variety of organisations, whether it be in finance, governance, education or sustainability.

Related subjects:

• PhD Health Economics
• PhD Applied economics
• PhD Development Economics
• PhD Econometrics
• PhD Economics
• PhD Environmental Economics
• PhD International Economics
• PhD Macroeconomics
• PhD Microeconomics
• PhD Social Economics

• Course title (A-Z)
• Course title (Z-A)
• Price: high - low
• Price: low - high

Primary Care and Population Health MPhil/PhD

Ucl (university college london).

The Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care brings together five research departments whose interests span the life course from Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £6,035 per year (UK)
• 5 years Part time degree: £2,930 per year (UK)

Health Economics PhD

Bangor university.

The PhDprogramme will provide students with research skills relevant to employment in the academic and university sector, Health Service Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,712 per year (UK)
• 5 years Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

Health Economics & Health Technology Assessment PhD

University of glasgow.

Our aim is to be the world-leading centre for health economic and health technology assessment research and education, working to improve Read more...

• 5 years Full time degree: £4,712 per year (UK)

Population Health Sciences PhD, MPhil

University of leicester.

The Department of Population Health Sciences offers supervision for the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - full-time and Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,786 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £2,393 per year (UK)

Brunel University London

Research profile Health Economics experts at Brunel aim to improve health and wellbeing through improved decision-making. We focus on Read more...

• 6 years Part time degree: £2,355 per year (UK)

Health Economics, PhD

Swansea university.

Health economics is at the core of innovation, health technology assessment, prioritisation and programme budgeting within the UK NHS Read more...

• 6 years Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

Population Health Sciences PhD/MD/MPhil - Diabetes Research Centre

Health economics and policy phd, lancaster university.

The PhD in Health Economics and Policy meets the needs of those wishing to gain a deep and critical insight into health economics theory, Read more...

• 5 years Online/Distance degree: £4,350 per year (UK)

PhD/MPhil Health Economics

University of manchester.

Programme description Our PhD/MPhil Health Economics programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding Read more...

DPhil in Population Health

University of oxford.

The DPhil in Population Health is a doctoral research programme intended to provide you with training in research, an in-depth knowledge Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £9,500 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £4,750 per year (UK)

PhD in Health Economics

University of york.

Our research degree in Health Economics gives you independence to specialise in a topic of your choice. Your degree will provide you with Read more...

Population Health Sciences PhD

University of bristol.

The Department of Population Health Sciences is part of Bristol Medical School. Staff in the department participate in extensive national Read more...

• 6 years Distance without attendance degree: £2,379 per year (UK)
• 4 years Distance without attendance degree: £4,758 per year (UK)
• 4 years Full time degree: £4,758 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £2,379 per year (UK)

Population Health & Environmental Sciences Research MPhil/PhD MD/(Res)

King's college london, university of london.

The School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences is one of seven Schools that make up the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £6,120 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £3,060 per year (UK)

The University of Edinburgh

Research profile The Usher Institute supervises postgraduate research students in a wide range of population health disciplines, including Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree
• 6 years Part time degree

MPhil/PhD Health Policy and Health Economics

London school of economics and political science, university of london.

The MPhil/PhD Health Policy and Health Economics at LSE covers the choice, design, analysis, and evaluation of health and social care Read more...

• 4 years Full time degree: £4,829 per year (UK)

Course type:

• Distance learning PhD
• Full time PhD
• Part time PhD

Qualification:

Related subjects:.

Iowa college student graduates with a 4.0 GPA in 4 majors in 4 years

ORANGE CITY, Iowa ( KCAU ) — A Northwestern College student is about to graduate with four majors under his belt.

Isaiah Gritters spent the last four years studying biology health professions, business administration/finance, economics and chemistry, all while keeping a 4.0 GPA.

On top of his classes, Gritters still found time for extracurriculars, including working as an EMT for Orange City, leading chemistry labs, and acting as a teacher’s assistant for an economics professor. 

“I’d say the most important thing was just staying on top of school work,” Gritters said. “I couldn’t study the night before, I had to be studying sometime like weeks in advance and really make sure that I was staying on top of everything, getting everything in on time.” 

Balancing more than 200 credits in four years, Gritters said his determination and time management got him through.  

“It’s not for the faint of heart, for sure, but if you have the drive and the interest and the professors who support you along the way, I definitely think it’s doable,” Gritters said.

After graduation, Gritters will be attending the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine and hopes to open his own private practice one day.

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