PhD Concentration in Health Economics & 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 on the economics of health and healthcare.
Health economics is a field of study that applies the theoretical concepts and empirical methods of economic analysis to various issues in health and health care, ranging from understanding underlying patient, provider, and insurer behaviors to evaluating various healthcare interventions.
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 required curriculum stresses a solid grounding 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. 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.
Doctoral students are paired with a faculty advisor 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.
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.
Program Director
Matthew Eisenberg, PhD
Faculty
Sample Graduates
Below is a list of recent graduates’ current positions and dissertation titles for the PhD Concentration in Health Economics and Policy.
| Graduate Name | Current Position | Dissertation Title |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor Ellison (2015) | Cardiothoracic Fellow: Johns Hopkins Hospital | Economic evaluation in kidney transplantation |
| Eric Roberts (2015) | Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh Department of Health Policy and Management | Essays on markets for primary care services for medicaid adults |
| Susan Yeh (2015) | Principal Analyst: Congressional Budget Office Division of Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis | Essays on the federal financing of the Medicaid and Medicare programs |
| Christine Buttorff (2014) | Associate Policy Research: RAND Corporation | The impact of a value-based insurance design on those with multiple chronic conditions |
| Fred Selck (2013) | Senior Economist: Bates White | Essays on physician behavior |
| Chuck Shih (2013) | Associate Director of Healthcare Reform & Public Policy: Biogen | Preferences for EQ-5D health states and experienced health states in the US general population: The impact of framing and current health on values |
| Erin Trish (2013) | Assistant Research Professor: University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy | Essays on competition in US private health insurance markets |
| Megan O’Brien (2009) | Executive Director: Merck | Impact of prescription drug insurance on health care utilization and expenditures among elderly medicare beneficiaries with depression |
| Bianca Frogner (2008) | Deputy Director of Primary Care Innovation Lab (PCI-Lab): University of Washington | Long-run modeling of health care expenditure growth in industrialized countries |
| Gretchen Jacobson (2008) | Associate Director for Medicare Policy: Kaiser Family Foundation | The return on investing additional tax dollars into the National Institutes of Health: A case study examining whether NIH funding correlates with increased phase I testing of new pharmaceuticals |
| Omar Galarraga (2007) | Associate Professor: Brown University School of Public Health | The effect of antidepressants on the labor market outcomes of HIV-infected persons using highly active antiretroviral therapy in the United States: 1996-2004 |