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September 10, 2004
1:30-3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Presenters
and Discussants
Meet
our participants and discussants for the September 10th Cyber Seminar:
Disseminating Research Results for Policymakers- Consumer-Driven
Health Plans: Potential, Pitfalls, and Policy Issues.
Presenters
Meredith
Rosenthal, Ph.D.
 Dr.
Rosenthal is an Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Policy
at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is currently working
in three primary research areas: (1) provider payment incentives;
(2) the pharmaceutical industry, and (3) managed care markets. Dr.
Rosenthal’s work-in-progress includes an evaluation of a health
plan’s efforts to use market forces to improve quality by
disseminating provider performance scores to consumers. The current
study will be complemented by an evaluation of the subsequent introduction
of pay-for-performance in the same health plan. Dr. Rosenthal and
her colleagues are also engaged in a study of the rise of direct-to-consumer
advertising and its impact on prescription drug utilization and
appropriateness of care. Dr. Rosenthal is a co-investigator on Harvard
University’s Health Care Markets and Managed Care Program
funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Her component
of that program is a study of the relationship between provider
competition and managed care entry in rural markets. In addition
to her research, Dr. Rosenthal teaches courses in Health Economics
and Mental Health Economics and Policy. Dr. Rosenthal is also currently
chair of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Physician Compensation.
Dr. Rosenthal received her Ph.D. in health economics at Harvard
University in 1998.
Learn
more about Rosenthal’s HCFO
grant.
Stephen T. Parente, Ph.D.
 Dr.
Parente is an Assistant Professor in the Carlson School of Management
at the University of Minnesota where he specializes in health information
technology, outcomes research, health economics, and managed care.
He has extensive experience directing empirical analyses utilizing
primary and secondary data bases and is acknowledged as a national
expert on using administrative databases, particularly Medicare
and managed care organization data, for health policy research.
Dr. Parente has served as a consultant to several of the largest
organizations in health care delivery including: UnitedHealth Group,
Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Health Care Financing Administration,
the American Association of Health Plans, Pfizer, Janssen Pharmaceutica,
Johns Hopkins Hospital, and various state governments as well as
biotechnology firms. He is currently the principal investigator
for an evaluation of consumer-driven health plans using claims data
from six large employers. He is also examining the productivity
and cost impact of information technology investments in hospitals.
Dr. Parente has recently concluded several studies including: the
impact of Medicare HMO closures on beneficiaries; identifying patterns
of controlled substance misuse within managed care plans as a patient
safety tool; and the impact of elderly consumer health benefit knowledge
of medical care demand and cost. Dr. Parente teaches graduate level
courses in health information technology, e-commerce and medical
technology evaluation. He actively collaborates on health policy
research with other faculty at the University. He holds an appointment
as adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to
joining the University of Minnesota faculty, Dr. Parente gained
a broad range of private and public sector health finance and policy
experience by serving as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator
John D. Rockefeller IV (D WV) during the Bush and Clinton Administrations'
health reform initiatives, and designing provider and health plan
profiles of service utilization, financial performance and quality
of care for HCFA and private insurers. He has a doctorate from Johns
Hopkins University, and both a Masters of Science in public policy
analysis and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Rochester.
Learn
more about Parente’s HCFO
grant.
Judith Hibbard, Dr.P.H.
 Dr.
Hibbard is a Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Planning,
Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon and a Clinical
Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
at the Oregon Health and Sciences University. Her work focuses on
consumer decision-making and how consumers, through their choices
and actions, can obtain a higher quality of care. Dr. Hibbard serves
on several advisory panels and commissions, including ones for The
National Health Care Quality Forum and the Oregon Patient Safety
Commission. She is an investigator on the CAHPSII project. She is
currently working on a study examining the assumptions about how
consumers will behave when enrolled in consumer-driven health plans.
Her research is supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
AARP, and The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. Her work
appears in recent issues of: Health Affairs, Medical Care, and
Health Services Research.
Learn
more about Hibbard’s HCFO
grant.
Discussants
Paul
Fronstin, Ph.D.
 Dr.
Fronstin is a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit
Research Institute (EBRI), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
committed to original public policy research and education on economic
security and employee benefits. He is also Director of the Institute's
Health Research and Education Program. He has been with EBRI since
1993. Dr. Fronstin's research interests include trends in employment-based
health benefits, consumer-driven health benefits, the uninsured,
retiree health benefits, employee benefits and taxation, and public
opinion about health care. He currently serves on the advisory council
for the Emeriti Retirement Health Program, and on the Maryland State
Planning Grant Health Care Coverage Workgroup. Dr. Fronstin earned
his Bachelor of Science degree in economics from SUNY Binghamton
and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Miami.
Scott
D. Leitz
Scott
Leitz is the director of the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota
Department of Health (MDH), where he also serves as the state health
economist. As
the primary health policy development and analysis unit in Minnesota’s
executive branch, the Health Economics Program serves the Legislature,
stakeholders, consumers, and other interested groups. Before joining
MDH in his current position, Mr. Leitz was the Director of Budget
and Legislation for Health Care Programs at the Minnesota Department
of Human Services where he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating
budgetary and legislative initiatives related to the Medicaid, MinnesotaCare,
and General Assistance Medical Care. He also served as a research
economist and coordinator of federal relations for MDH and has served
as a senior program evaluator for the Minnesota Office of the Legislative
Auditor. Mr. Leitz has a master’s degree in public affairs
from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public
Affairs and a B.S. in economics and mathematics from the University
of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.
Moderators
Bonnie
J. Austin, J.D.
 Ms.
Austin is a Senior Manager at AcademyHealth and primarily works
on The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing
and Organization (HCFO) Initiative. Her responsibilities include
reviewing proposals and monitoring grants, coordinating conferences
on health care financing issues and drafting newsletter articles
and findings briefs. Prior to joining AcademyHealth, Ms. Austin
worked for 10 years as a litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher
& Flom LLP. Her practice included representing clients, including
health care providers, in criminal investigations, civil suits,
and administrative proceedings. Ms. Austin received her M.P.H. from
The George Washington University, her J.D. from University of Notre
Dame Law School and her B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Jeremy J. Alberga
 Mr.
Alberga is a Senior Manager at AcademyHealth and primarily works
on The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives
(SCI) program. He also manages AcademyHealth's contract with Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide technical
assistance to 43 State Planning Grant awardees. His responsibilities
include providing technical assistance to state policymakers on
health policy reform, specifically expanding and maintaining health
insurance coverage through public programs and public/private partnerships;
disseminating state models of expansion through the program's written
products; convening workshops and small group consultations for
policymakers; and assisting in the development of technical assistance
documents. Mr. Alberga began working at AcademyHealth in April 1999.
Before that he worked for a private firm providing research to hospital
emergency departments and ambulatory care facilities. Mr. Alberga
received his MA in international health policy from the George Washington
University and his BA from McGill University, Montreal.
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