Newsletter
April 2019
 
Spring 2019 Edition

In This Issue
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Center faculty member discusses the evolving opioid crisis and what we can do to help
"In 2017 alone, 47,600 Americans died from opioid overdoses. That's 130 people every day.
The rate of opioid prescriptions has dropped steadily since 2012, but it is still at 59 prescriptions per 100 Americans, which means 191 million prescriptions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We need to reframe our mindset in understanding addiction," says Alyssa Peckham, a clinical assistant professor in Northeastern's Bouvé College of Health Sciences. "It's a chronic illness, rather than a moral failure." Read more at News@Northeastern
Center faculty member awarded funding to study incentives to reduce use of opioid medications

Alicia Modestino , Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Northeastern University, is the principal investigator for a new grant from the Abdut Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT. 

The grant is for studying the impact of providing patients with enhanced education and financial incentives to reduce their use of prescribed opioid medications. Two other faculty from the Center who are joining her on the grant are professors Md. Noor Alam (Industrial Engineering) and Gary Young (School of Business and College of Health Sciences). 
Center faculty collaborating on study of opioid dependence

Professors Md. Noor Alam (Industrial Engineering), Alicia Modestino (Public Policy and Economics), and Alyssa Peckham (School of Pharmacy), and Gary Young (School of Business and College of Health Sciences) are collaborating on a new research contract from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The contract is to conduct a mixed methods study of physicians' prescribing practices of medications to treat opioid dependence.  
Courtesy of News@Northeastern
Center faculty member conducts research to save lives in the ICU

"Center faculty member,  Karen Giuliano, an associate professor in Northeastern's school of nursing, wants to help nurses handle these tasks as efficiently as possible, and cut down on the potential for errors. She is working on several ways to improve the process, but her first fix is simple: Organize the thin plastic tubes running from the pumps to the patient." Read more at  News@Northeastern


Congratulations Ph.D. graduates! 

Stephen Flaherty completed his Ph.D. in Population Health in 2018 and is now a data scientist at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare.

Ashwini Ranade completed her Ph.D. in Population Health in 2018 and is now Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
New Publications 

Singh, S., G. Young, K. Madison, and L. Loomer. "State-Level Community Benefit Regulation and Nonprofit Hospitals' Provision of Community Benefits" Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 2018; 43: 229 -- 270. Doi: 10.1215/03616878-4303516
 
Singh, S., G. Cramer, and G. Young "The Magnitude of a Community's Health Needs and Nonprofit Hospitals' Progress in Meeting Those Needs: Are We Faced with a Paradox?" Public Health Reports, 2018; 133: 75 - 84. Doi: 10.1177/0033354917739581
Young, G., *S. Flaherty, D. Zepeda, S. Singh, and G. Cramer. "Community Benefit Spending by Tax-Exempt Hospitals Changed Little After ACA" Health Affairs, 2018; 37: 121-124. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1028
 
Song, P., S. Lee, M. Toth, S. Singh, and G. Young. "Gender Differences in Hospital CEO Compensation: A National Investigation of Not-for-Profit Hospitals" Medical Care Research and Review. Doi: 10.1177/1077558718754573
 
Flaherty, S. , K. Mortele, and G. Young. "Utilization Trends in Diagnostic Imaging for a Commercially Insured Population: A Study of Massachusetts Residents, 2009 - 2013"Journal of the American College of Radiology, 2018; 15: 834 -- 841. Doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2018.02.030
 
Young, G., S. Flaherty, D. Zepeda, S. Singh, and S. Rosenbaum. "Impact of ACA Medicaid Expansion on Hospital Finances" Journal of Healthcare Management, 2019; 64: 91 - 101. Doi: 10.1097/JHM-D-17-00177

Flaherty, S., D. Zepeda, K. Mortele, and G. Young. "Magnitude and financial implications of inappropriate diagnostic imaging for three common clinical conditions." International Journal for Quality in Health Care, mzy248. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzy248