Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Hospital Closures amid COVID-19
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, …
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals have experienced financial hardship from reduced patient volume and elective surgery cases, as well as the thin financial margins for treating patients with COVID-19. This trend of hospital closures is concerning for patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers. This current opinion piece describes the challenges caused by hospital closures and discusses what policymakers should know based on the existing…
Operations Research | North America | Health Systems | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2020Data-Driven Management of Post-Transplant Medications
Organ-transplanted patients typically receive high amounts of immunosuppressive drugs as a mechanism to reduce their …
Organ-transplanted patients typically receive high amounts of immunosuppressive drugs as a mechanism to reduce their risk of organ rejection. However, because of the diabetogenic effect of these drugs, this practice exposes them to a greater risk of new-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT), and hence, becoming insulin dependent. This study develops effective medication management strategies to address the common conundrum of balancing the risk of organ rejection versus that of NODAT. The article presents a robust…
Operations Research | North America | Mathematical Models | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2021Employee Health Plans Powered by Analytics
This article describes a business model for the employee health plans of large firms to …
This article describes a business model for the employee health plans of large firms to bypass insurers and instead use direct contracts with hospitals which have been designated as centers of excellence. The authors propose methods of machine learning and data analytics to identify efficient and effective delivery systems, with the ultimate goal of improving health care quality.
Operations Research | North America | Health Systems -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Priority Setting/Ethics | North America | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Health Utility of Drinkers' Family Members
Problematic alcohol use is known to harm individuals surrounding the drinker. This study described the …
Problematic alcohol use is known to harm individuals surrounding the drinker. This study described the health utility of people who reported having a family member(s) whom they perceived as a “problem drinker.” Using a US population dataset, and adjusting for other drinking-related factors, perceiving a family member as a problem drinker was associated with lower health utility on the order of 0.033 (P < 0.001) for a spouse/partner to 0.023 (P < 0.001) for a…
Preferences/Values | North America | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID and the Age–VSL Relationship
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions …
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions in analyses of lockdowns and other policies. Many rely on a population-average estimate of the value per statistical life (VSL); others adjust VSL for life expectancy at the age of death. The article explores the implications of theory and empirical studies, which suggest that the relationship between age and VSL is uncertain; these uncertainties in turn may affect whether the…
Preferences/Values | North America | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2021Emotion and Humor as Misinformation Antidotes
Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place …
Many visible public debates over scientific issues are clouded in accusations of falsehood, which place increasing demands on citizens to distinguish fact from fiction. Yet, constraints on our ability to detect misinformation coupled with our inadvertent motivations to believe false science result in a high likelihood that we will form misperceptions. As science falsehoods are often presented with emotional appeals, the authors focus their perspective on the roles of emotion and humor in the formation…
Decision Psychology | North America | Culture/Society | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2018Motivational Interviewing: A Promising Tool to Address Vaccine Hesitancy
In most countries, there is an increase in ‘‘vaccine hesitancy,” defined as the proportion of …
In most countries, there is an increase in ‘‘vaccine hesitancy,” defined as the proportion of parents who refuse some, many, or all vaccines or who adopt a delayed vaccination schedule, regardless of the availability of vaccination services. Generally, approaches to address vaccine hesitancy suggest either strong policies of mandatory immunization or more traditional approaches of education and information. Although mandatory immunization policies may increase uptake of vaccines, they do not address the root causes of…
Preferences/Values | North America | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021Anti-Vaccination Infodemic on Social Media: A Behavioral Analysis
Vaccinations are without doubt one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine, and there is …
Vaccinations are without doubt one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine, and there is hope that they can constitute a solution to halt the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the anti-vaccination movement is currently on the rise, spreading online misinformation about vaccine safety and causing a worrying reduction in vaccination rates worldwide. In this historical time, it is imperative to understand the reasons of vaccine hesitancy, and to find effective strategies to dismantle the rhetoric…
Preferences/Values | North America | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology