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UCSF INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH & AGING ◊ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
“It is marvelous to be a public health advocate
and make statistics come alive.”
-- Dorothy Pechman Rice
Dorothy Pechman Rice is a medical economist and health statistician of international repute.
For more than 42 years she has played a prominent role in developing the theory and methods of research about the economics of health, the costs of illness, and the analysis of the economic outcomes of health programs.
She was one of the first researchers to apply the human capital approach to health care analysis, and an entire literature now exists on measuring the value of lost productivity.
Her life's work has focused on examining the health of populations, and in particular the use, delivery, and cost of health care services; health status of the population; cost of illness; aging; chronic illness; and health behaviors.
The Dorothy Pechman Rice Center for Health Economics was established in May 2000. The
Center honors the values that Professor Rice has
championed throughout her career: generosity in
sharing time and knowledge, thoughtful analysis
of health economics issues, and commitment to
public service.
The mission of the Dorothy Pechman Rice Center for Health Economics is to provide training and mentoring to health economics professionals, conduct research, and disseminate health economics information to professional and lay audiences.
The Center provides professional training in health economics, statistics, and policy through predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships and research assistantships. Opportunities exist to work on existing projects, and with Center faculty on research projects initiated by the fellows. There are opportunities also for mid-career scholars to spend time at UCSF to gain experience in the analysis of cost of illness and economic outcomes research. Colleagues on sabbatical are also welcome.
Honoring Professor Rice's longstanding tradition of sharing information, the center provides technical assistance to public and other agencies that request information about the economics of illness, and disseminates information widely through many forums, public service programs, and events including lecture series, symposia, conferences, and a website.
Every two years the Center sponsors the Dorothy Pechman Rice Symposium on Public Health.
Research activities involve methodological studies and applied research in public health. Areas of interest include:
The Center sponsors a wide variety of research projects including the following:
In the past, Dr. Rice and her colleagues have estimated the cost of psychiatric and other chronic illnesses. Areas of ongoing research include the impact of chronic illness on health care utilization and expenditures, and the economics of disability. Three recent studies include:
The Cost of Breast Cancer in California.
Wendy Max, P.I, with Dorothy Rice as Co-PI.
The purpose of this research study is to estimate (1)
the annual cost of breast cancer in California, including direct health
care costs, (2) the value of lost productivity for those living with the
disease, and (3) the value of lives lost prematurely.
The Cost of Gender-Specific Cancers in California
(1/1/99-12/3/01.
Wendy Max, P.I., with
Dorothy Rice, Xiulan Zhang, Martha Michel, and
Wendy Breuer.
The goals of this study are to
estimate the annual costs of prostate, cervical,
ovarian, and uterine cancer in California,
estimate their lifetime costs, and study the
cost effectiveness of alternative interventions.
The Cost of
Osteoporosis in California.
Wendy Max, P.I.
This study, funded by the California
Department of Health Services, reviewed the
literature on osteoporosis costs, ascertained
the available data sources, and estimated the
cost of the disease in the state.
Center faculty have studied Alzheimer's disease and the economics of aging for more than a decade. Current areas of interest include the financing of health care and social security for older people, the future of Social Security and Medicare, and other issues related to health and income security.
Health Care Costs in the Last Year of Life:
Does Type of Dementia Make a difference?
Pat Fox, P.I., Wendy Max and Leslie Ross, Co- Principal
Investigators.
The study compares the cost and
utilization of care of people with vascular
dementia, Alzheimer's, and mixed dementias.
In 1986, Professor Rice published a landmark study on the cost of the health effects of smoking, which led to the development of a software package for use by states and localities to estimate their smoking-related costs. Center researchers continue to work in the area of tobacco economics including the following studies:
Smoking Cessation and Medical Care Use/Costs in a Large HMO.
Sponsored by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, this study examines the association between the use of smoking cessation programs and individual's smoking cessation
behavior, and assesses the impact of smoking cessation on medical care
utilization and costs among members of a large managed care health plan
in Northern California.
Tobacco Control Policy Analysis and Intervention Evaluation in China.
Funded by NIH, Fogarty International Center, this
project aims to increase research capacity among Chinese researchers on
tobacco control and evaluation research with collaborators from
University of California, the World Bank, Chinese Ministry of Health,
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
Sichuan University, Fudan University, and Beijing University.
The Disproportionate Cost of Smoking for Communities of Color.
Wendy Max, P.I.
The purpose of this project, funded by
the University of California Tobacco-Related
Disease Research Program (TRDRP), is to estimate
smoking-attributable costs for African
Americans, Hispanics, and others in California
for 2002 with three specific aims are to
estimate (1) the direct costs of smoking-related
illness, (2) the value of lost productivity from
smoking-related illness, and (3) losses
resulting from smoking-caused mortality.
A Dynamic Model of Smoking and Health Care Expenditures in
California.
Wendy Max, P.I., with Dorothy Rice, Leonard Miller, and Xiulan Zhang.
This study develops a series
of related models to examine smoking as a
dynamic process. The models use national and
California data to evaluate the impact of the
California Tobacco Control program on health
care costs in the state.
The Cost of Smoking in California, 1999.
Wendy Max and Dorothy Rice, co-P.I.'s, with
collaboration of Leonard Miller and Xiulan Zhang.
This study, funded by the Tobacco Control
Section of the California Department of Health
Services, utilized an econometric model to
estimate the costs of smoking to California's 58
counties.
Research on injury began with a report to Congress on the cost of all injuries in the U.S. Center research has examined the economics of head injuries, firearm injuries, intimate partner violence, and an evaluation of California's motorcycle helmet law.
Cost of Intimate Partner Violence.
Wendy Max, P.I., Dorothy Rice co-P.I.
This study, sponsored by the U. S. Department of Health and Human
Services and the U. S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, examined the economic
costs of intimate partner violence including
those attending the provision of health care,
mental health, and social services, use of the
criminal justice system, and the cost of lost
productivity resulting from injury and death.
The project resulted in a report to Congress.
State of Knowledge in Costs and Source of Payment
Associated with Injuries Resulting from
Motorcycle Crashes (10/1/98-12/31/99).
Wendy Max, P.I.
Funded by the National
Public Services Research Institute, this study
involved the preparation of a comprehensive
review of the state of knowledge about costs
associated with head and brain injuries
resulting from motorcycle crashes. It also
included a review of motorcycle operator
insurance availability, coverage, and costs.
Economics of Health Information Technology in
Large Physician Organizations.
Robert H. Miller, P.I.
This project aims to help private
and public policy makers, regulators, managers,
and researchers understand the economic logic of
using electronic medical records in physicians'
practices.
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| Wendy Max |
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| Dorothy P. Rice |
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| Carroll Estes |
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| Patrick Fox |
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| Hai-Yen Sung |
Wendy Max, Ph.D. is Professor of Medical Economics at the Institute for Health & Aging (IHA) and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF.
She is Center Director and Institute Co-Director.
Her work on the economic cost of the health effect of smoking includes a study of the cost of smoking in California, and the development of a national model of smoking costs and its application to states and the public aid sector.
Other research areas include the economic impact of breast cancer, the disproportionate cost of smoking for minority communities, disability, the formal and informal care cost of Alzheimer's disease, and healthcare for the chronically ill and elderly.
Dorothy P. Rice, Sc.D. (Hon.) is Professor Emerita at the Institute for Health & Aging and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF, and Director Emerita of the Center.
Her long and illustrious career includes many years of public service in Washington, D.C. where she retired as the Director of the National Center for Health Statistics in 1982.
She has published more than 200 monographs, articles, and book chapters on the economics of medical care, aging, chronic illness, disability, health statistics, and on the costs of smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, and injuries.
Carroll Estes, Ph.D. is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Francisco.
She is the founding Director of IHA (1979-1998), and former Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (1981-1992), School of Nursing, UCSF.
Her current research focuses on the health and long-term care of the elderly with attention to state innovations in long-term care and access to home and community based services; managed care and mental health care for the elderly; the health and economic security of older women and other vulnerable populations; and the impact of government policy on elders at risk.
Patrick Fox, Ph.D. is Co-Director of the Institute for Health & Aging, and Professor of Sociology at IHA and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF.
Dr. Fox's interests include the sociology of aging, long-term care, evaluation of social and health interventions, health policy, disease-based social movements, economic costs of illness, and health promotion.
He has written numerous reports and articles on the delivery of community-based long-term care and mental health services to the elderly, evaluation of community-based health promotion interventions for the elderly, the history of Alzheimer's disease, the emergence of the Alzheimer's disease social movement, the economic costs of cardiovascular disease mortality and Alzheimer's disease, and breast and cervical cancer screening.
Hai-Yen Sung, Ph.D. is Associate Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Health & Aging and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
She received her Ph.D. in Agriculture Economics from the University of California, Berkeley where she was also a NIA postdoctoral fellow in Economics of Aging and Health Services Research.
Dr. Sung's research activities have focused on the economics of tobacco control and policy, cancer screening and outcomes, and economic costs of illness and smoking.
If you would like more information about the Dorothy Pechman Rice Program in the Economics of Health and the Cost of Illness and Injury, or if you would like to learn how you can support this valuable program, contact us at 415-502-5200.
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Last revised: Apr. 2008
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