Barbara McNeil is chair of the FDA’s Science Board, which advises the Commissioner of Food and Drugs on specific complex and technical issues, as well as emerging issues within the scientific community, in industry, and in academia.

HCP Associate Professor Bruce Landon will be inducted into the ASCI on April 25 at the Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

Meara will serve on the Smoking Cessation in Military and Veteran Populations committee.

McNeil headed the Committee on Reviewing Evidence to Identify Highly Effective Clinical Services.

HCP professor Michael Chernew and colleagues studied the impact of value-based insurance design on patients’ adherence to high-value medication regimens.

HCP’s Bruce Landon and James O’Malley participated in a study comparing several long-term effects from two different types of abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

HCP’s Mary Beth Landrum, Ellen Meara, Edward Guadagnoli, and Nancy Keating discuss the value of medical spending.

Ayanian and colleagues studied the effects of copayments on mammography rates in Medicare beneficiaries.

Frank and Newhouse examine the efficiency of prescription drug purchasing in Medicare and consider the role of government in pricing of prescription drugs. They suggest a limited and targeted role for government in price negotiations.

The Subcommittee on Science and Technology found that the deficiencies at the US Food and Drug Administration put the health of the nation’s population at risk.

The two-day event focused on fostering collaboration across disciplines to improve Native American health.

Frank discusses the ongoing regulation of generic drugs.

The study results were presented at a Late-Breaking News Special Session on Outcomes Research at the American Heart Association meeting in early November.

Sequist received the 2007 Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship for his outstanding contributions to promoting justice in medical education and health care.

Participants from the 17 chapters of this student-led organization recently gathered at Harvard Medical School and HCP to strengthen their ties and advance their mission.

This special celebratory issue includes articles by several HCP faculty members—David Grabowski, James O’Malley, Bruce Landon, and Richard Frank—on topics including health economics and mental health policy.

Recent research by Kessler and colleagues shows increased suicidality among hurricane survivors—two years after the disaster.

The symposium, held November 7 and 8 at Harvard Medical School, covered a range of topics in Native American health care.

The study by Kessler and colleagues, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, demonstrates the major toll that depression and other mental disorders take on adults' abilities to work and carry out their other usual activities.

The study, published in JAMA, suggests that Medicaid patients receive lower-quality care than patients in commercial programs.

In the study, published in Circulation, the researchers found that fewer than one in five patients receive rehabilitation services, despite strong evidence of their benefits.

Michael E. Porter, MBA, PhD, spoke on “Value-Based Health Care Policy.”

The study, in the September 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, will inform the debate about the value of these exams.

Huskamp is investigating the social costs and benefits of the new psychotropic drugs.

The researchers studied the use of health services by previously uninsured Medicare beneficiaries.

The researchers, including Research Fellow Nakela Cook (right) and Associate Professor Bruce Landon, found that uninsured patients who receive their primary health care in publicly funded community health centers face significant obstacles in accessing specialty services outside of these centers.

The new, expanded site contains a wealth of information about HCP.

The study focused on tradeoffs from integrating diagnosis and treatment for elderly patients with coronary artery disease.

The study, published in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, examined the accuracy of the U.S. News & World Report rankings of “America’s best hospitals” in the category of heart and heart surgery.

HCP biostatistician Sharon-Lise Normand was among the researchers who developed the hospital mortality measures.

Ayanian was honored at a recent ceremony by the HMS Office for Diversity and Community Partnership.

HCP biostatistician Sharon-Lise Normand was among the researchers who developed the hospital mortality measures.

HCP's Mass-DAC team was selected as one of four winners of an HMS Team Award recognizing the hard work, dedication, and true team nature of the group. The Team Awards were presented at a recent ceremony at HMS.

HCP Director of Administration Lisa Muto, PhD, was honored with the Dean's Award for Leadership in the Advancement of Women Staff.

Benjamin Cook, a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and a recent graduate of the PhD in Health Policy program at HCP, received the 2007 Dissertation Award at the AcademyHealth Conference.

Dr. McNeil will begin serving in this capacity as of July 1, 2007.

HCP's Thomas D. Sequist, along with two other members of the HCP community, won awards for outstanding research presentations at the SGIM annual meeting.

HCP's Richard Frank, a professor of health economics, recently testified before the Senate Finance Committee.

Joseph P. Newhouse was feted with a celebratory dinner and symposium as the Journal of Health Economics turns 25.

Dr. McNeil comoderated a discussion of health care reform with HMS Dean Joseph B. Martin.

David Grabowski, PhD, an associate professor of health economics at HCP, discussed the issue of pay for home health aides - a topic now before the US Supreme Court.

The time patients spent traveling to and from medical appointments, waiting to see their providers, meeting with their doctors, and receiving treatments was worth over $2 billion in 2005.

The study by Dr. Normand and colleagues compared clinical and administrative data sources for coronary artery bypass grafting report cards.

The article, "Unintended Consequences of Caps on Medicare Drug Benefits," was published in the June 1, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Richard G. Frank, PhD, and Joseph P. Newhouse, PhD, discuss "Mending the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: Improving Consumer Choices and Restructuring Purchasing."

The class, "Introduction to Health Policy," will be required beginning this fall under the new integrated HMS curriculum. The course is taught by HCP's Haiden Huskamp (at left in photo) and Barbara McNeil.

Bruce E. Landon, MD, MBA, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, is the lead author of a study on quality improvements in managing chronic disease at community health centers, and second author of a study on emergency department use by individuals with high-deductible health plans.

John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP, spent a week in Japan at the invitation of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health.

A talk by HCP's Nicholas Christakis at Harvard was recently covered by the Harvard Gazette.

Schaeffer, founding chair and CEO of WellPoint Health Networks, Inc., gave the address at the annual event celebrating the MD/MBA program.

Dr. Normand was elected an associate member of the Society, whose mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.

The researchers found that binge eating is at least as important a public health problem as anorexia and bulimia.

The researchers found that with each office visit averaging only about 15 minutes and an average of six "topics" to cover, very little time was available for patients to discuss issues of concern.

Mass-DAC -- the state-funded data-coordinating center established to collect and evaluate data on cardiac surgery and angioplasty programs in the Commonwealth -- recently released data on surgeon-specific mortality rates for cardiac bypass surgery. HCP Professor of Health Care Policy Sharon-Lise Normand is director of Mass-DAC.

Study shows nonprofit hospitals, more nurses, and greater availability of technology services mean better care for patients; federal and military hospitals also receive top quality grade.

Throwing money at a social problem can do a great deal of good, concludes HCP faculty member Richard Frank, who, together with colleague Sherry Glied, is author of Better But Not Well.

Across Medicare health plans, better overall quality is not consistently associated with racial equity in care of patients with diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease, says HCP's John Ayanian, one of the study's authors.

According to a study led by HCP faculty member Dr. Ronald Kessler--the most comprehensive survey yet completed of mental health among Hurricane Katrina survivors from three states--the proportion of people with a serious mental illness doubled in the months after the hurricane, compared with an earlier survey.

The Citizens’ Health Care Working Group issued a report demonstrating remarkable consensus among Americans for public policy that ensures all Americans--regardless of their financial resources or health status--have affordable health care coverage.

A group of HMS students, supported by the Commonwealth Fund, produced and is maintaining ImproveHealthCare.org, a website devoted to providing medical students and physicians with up-to-date information on health care policy and its impact on medical practice.

Should mental health and substance-abuse services be insured in the same way as other medical services?

Producing leaders in health care is the goal of a new MD/MBA track offered jointly by Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Harvard Business School (HBS).

In the largest study ever to quantify caregiver burden and the widower effect, researchers found that for people aged 65 and older, hospitalization of a spouse can harm the wellbeing of his or her partner and significantly contribute to that partner's death.