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Health Services & Economics

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

Determining the true cost of providing health care can be difficult. That’s because most information about cost comes from a fee-for-service system based on providers’ reimbursement. But thanks to the increasing sophistication of data systems in large integrated delivery systems like Group Health, health care administrators are now developing a better understanding of the actual costs of delivering services to any given population. It’s a crucial issue as society struggles to make more informed decisions about how to spend its limited health care resources.

"Through our work, we’re able to demonstrate that investments in health promotion programs are the best ways to spend health care dollars," says Paul A. Fishman, PhD, associate investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS). "For instance, we’ve known for decades that smoking cessation programs are one of the most efficient ways of improving population health; but our research is now showing that there are immediate financial benefits to health plans that provide coverage for these programs."

To explore health services and economics, CHS researchers collaborate with colleagues at the HealthPartners Research Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research, the University of California at San Francisco’s Institute for Health Policy Studies, the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound’s Health Services Research and Development Program.

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

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