The department of health care policy was well represented in Health Affairs’ 2017 Editor’s Picks. Out of the ten top articles selected, four were authored by HCP faculty, students, and fellows

Associate professor Ateev Mehrotra was featured for the study “Los Angeles Safety-Net Program eConsult System Was Rapidly Adopted And Decreased Wait Times To See Specialists” that he authored along with Michael L. Barnett, Hal F. Yee Jr, and Paul Giboney. The paper examined the results of the Los Angeles eConsult system, which electronically connects primary care practitioners to specialists to aid vulnerable patients in gaining access to specialty care.

Health Care Policy doctoral student Jamie Daw and associate professor Laura Hatfield took a look at health care coverage for pregnant women with Katherine Swartz and Benjamin D. Sommers in their study “Women In The United States Experience High Rates Of Coverage ‘Churn’ In Months Before And After Childbirth”, which was mentioned as a top pick.

Leonard D. Schaffer professor of health care policy Michael Chernew was featured twice on the list for his work on “Substantial Physician Turnover And Beneficiary ‘Churn’ In A Large Medicare Pioneer ACO” as well as on a study led by former Seidman fellow Eric T. Roberts and HCP professor J. Michael McWilliams , “Market Share Matters: Evidence Of Insurer And Provider Bargaining Over Prices”. The latter study demonstrated that insurers require larger market shares to negotiate lower prices from large provider groups than they do when negotiating with smaller provider groups.

The full list of the 2017 Editor’s Picks, along with links to each article, can be found on the Health Affairs website.