HSC and Others

HSC'S MISSION

he Center for Studying Health System Change's mission is to inform health care decision makers about changes in the health care system at both the local and national levels and the effects of such changes on people. HSC seeks to provide objective, incisive analyses that lead to sound policy and management decisions, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of the American public.

SUPPORTING RWJF'S MISSION

long with other grantees, HSC informs the research and programmatic activities at RWJF, helping to support the Foundation's overall mission to improve the health and health care of all Americans. Specifically, HSC's research contributes to understanding what is working well in the American health care system and what is failing, at both the national level and in communities across the country.

In carrying out its mission, the Foundation concentrates its grant-making support in three broad areas: access to care, substance abuse and chronic care. These are also areas that the network of organizations associated with HSC's Community Tracking Study cover. To accomplish its overall goals, RWJF supports research and evaluation, training and education, program demonstrations and communications.

James Knickman, vice president for evaluation and research, and Robert Hughes, vice president, initiated the network of organizations focused on tracking change and nurtured its development over the last five years. Both continue to play a leadership role with respect to the research network. Along with them, Maureen Michael, program officer, provides leadership to the project and is responsible for managing the network on a day-to-day basis. Paul Tarini, senior communications officer, provides public affairs counsel to the project, and Rona Henry, senior financial officer, provides financial oversight. HSC is among the many projects under RWJF's Health Care Group led by Jack Ebeler, senior vice president and director, health care group.

HSC STAFF

Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., President
Peter Kemper, Ph.D., Vice President
Joy M. Grossman, Ph.D., Associate Director
Ann C. Greiner, M.C.P., Director of Public Affairs

Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., Senior Health Researcher
Jack Hadley, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar
James D. Reschovsky, Ph.D., Senior Health Researcher
Jeffrey J. Stoddard, M.D., Senior Physician Researcher
Sally Trude, Ph.D., Senior Health Researcher

Kelly J. Devers, Ph.D., Health Researcher
J. Lee Hargraves, Ph.D., Health Researcher
Cara S. Lesser, M.P.P., Health Researcher
Ha T. Tu, M.P.A., Health Researcher

Laurie E. Felland, M.S., Health Research Analyst
Leslie A. Jackson, M.H.S., Health Research Analyst
Michael H. Park, J.D., M.P.H., Health Research Analyst
Marie C. Reed, M.H.S., Health Research Analyst
Elizabeth A. Schaefer, M.A., Health Research Analyst
Liza S. Rudell, Health Research Assistant
Gina K. Rule, Public Affairs Specialist
Ashley C. Short, Health Research Assistant
Bradley C. Strunk, Health Research Assistant
Alison K. Vratil, Health Research Assistant

Teresa Armstrong, Manager of Administration
Heather Anne Berry, Research Coordinator

Roland Edwards, Senior Public Affairs Coordinator
Lucille Richardson, Senior Office Assistant
Vernette Roberts, Executive Assistant

SELECTED STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

PAUL B. GINSBURG, PH.D., president, is nationally recognized for his work in health economics and health policy, especially health care market changes and cost trends. He previously served as executive director of the Physician Payment Review Commission and as deputy assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office.

PETER KEMPER, PH.D., vice president, has been principal investigator of the Community Tracking Study since HSC's inception. A commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, he is a nationally recognized expert on care of the elderly and the effects of managed care. He was formerly director of the long-term care division of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly AHCPR) and director of the Madison, Wisc., office of MPR.

JOY M. GROSSMAN, PH.D., associate director, oversees HSC data collection activities and manages the research agenda-setting process. Her research specialties are provider and health plan competition and managed care. She was a health policy analyst at the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission and an investment banker.

ANN C. GREINER, M.C.P., director of public affairs, oversees HSC's publications, conferences and outreach activities. Previously, she was an assistant vice president at the National Committee for Quality Assurance, directing communications and marketing efforts, and served as a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute.

PETER J. CUNNINGHAM, PH.D., senior health researcher, specializes in access, the uninsured and safety net issues. He was a researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, where he worked on the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey.

JACK HADLEY, PH.D., visiting scholar, is a professor of health services research at Georgetown University's Institute for Health Care Research and Policy. He is a past president of the Association for Health Services Research and a former editor of Inquiry. His work with HSC focuses on studies of the market for health insurance and of physicians' behavior.

JAMES D. RESCHOVSKY, PH.D., senior health researcher, focuses on health care, insurance and managed care issues. Previously, he held academic positions at Michigan State University and Cornell University, and was research fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

JEFFREY J. STODDARD, M.D., senior physician researcher, specializes in service delivery, physician and children's health issues. A practicing pediatrician, he previously held a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.

SALLY TRUDE, PH.D., senior health researcher, specializes in managed care and physician issues. She was a senior policy analyst for the Physician Payment Review Commission and a health policy analyst at RAND.

KELLY J. DEVERS, PH.D., health researcher, specializes in managed care and provider organization and competition. Her expertise in qualitative and mixed methods research design is critical to HSC's site visit work. Previously, she was a senior research associate at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

J. LEE HARGRAVES, PH.D., health researcher, specializes in patient and consumer assessments of health care and quality of medical care. He was senior survey scientist at the Picker Institute, where he was an investigator on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Consumer Assessment of Health Plans project.

CARA S. LESSER, M.P.P., health researcher, directs HSC's site visit work and specializes in market change. She was a senior research associate at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

HA T. TU, M.P.A., health researcher, focuses on service delivery issues. She was an economic consultant to the Center for Health Policy Studies in Columbia, Md., and the Health Care Financing Administration.