Health Policy
Faculty of the Committee on Higher Degrees in Health Policy
Joseph P. Newhouse, John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management (Kennedy School, Medical School, Public Health) (Chair)
Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis (Public Health, Kennedy School)
Allan M. Brandt, Professor of the History of Science (FAS) and Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine (Medical School)
Troyen A. Brennan, Professor of Law and Public Health (Public Health, Medical School)
Paul D. Cleary, Professor of Medical Sociology (Medical School)
David M. Cutler, Professor of Economics (on leave 2000-01)
Arnold M. Epstein, Professor of Health Policy and Management (Public Health) and Professor of Health Care Policy (Medical School)
Richard G. Frank, Professor of Health Economics (Medical School)
John D. Graham, Professor of Policy and Decision Sciences (Public Health)
Jerry R. Green, John Leverett Professor in the University, David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy, and Taussig Professor of Economics (on leave spring term)
James K. Hammitt, Associate Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences (Public Health)
Haiden Ashby Huskamp, Assistant Professor of Health Economics (Medical School)
Gary King, Professor of Government
Arthur Kleinman, Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Faculties of Medicine and Arts and Sciences (on leave 2000-01)
Peter V. Marsden, Professor of Sociology
Marie C. McCormick, Professor of Pediatrics (Medical School) and Sumner and Esther Feldberg Professor of Maternal and Child Health (Public Health)
Barbara J. McNeil, Ridley Watts Professor of Health Care Policy and Professor of Radiology (Medical School)
Carl N. Morris, Professor of Statistics
Peter J. Neumann, Assistant Professor of Policy and Decision Sciences (Public Health)
Sharon-Lise Teresa Normand, Associate Professor of Biostatistics (Medical School, Public Health)
Paul Pierson, Professor of Government
Gary Paul Pisano, Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration (Business School)
Meredith B. Rosenthal, Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Policy (Public Health)
Donald B. Rubin, Professor of Statistics
Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and of Sociology
Stephen B. Soumerai, Professor of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (Medical School)
B. Katherine Swartz, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management (Public Health)
Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor
Milton C. Weinstein, Henry J. Kaiser Professor of Health Policy and Management and Biostatistics (Public Health) and Professor of Medicine (Medical School)
Alan Zaslavsky, Associate Professor of Statistics (Medical School)
Richard J. Zeckhauser, Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy (Kennedy School)
The Ph.D. in Health Policy, awarded by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, draws upon the resources of five faculties: The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Public Health, the Medical School, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. This degree is intended primarily for students seeking teaching careers in institutes of higher learning and/or research careers in policy.
Students in the Ph.D. Program in Health Policy choose a concentration and meet specific curriculum requirements in one of seven disciplines: decision sciences, economics, ethics, management, medical sociology, political analysis, or statistics and evaluative science. In addition to choosing a concentration, students specialize in one of four areas of policy interest: environmental health, health care services, mental health, or public health.
Decision Sciences (Professor Milton C. Weinstein, Chair). Decision Sciences are the collection of quantitative techniques that are used for decision making at the individual and collective level. They include decision analysis, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, decision modeling, and behavioral decision theory. The concentration in decision sciences prepares students for research careers that involve the application of these methods to health problems.
Economics (Professor Joseph P. Newhouse, Chair). The concentration in economics focuses on the economic behavior of individuals; providers; insurers; and federal, state, and local governments as their actions affect health and medical care. In addition to examining the literature on health economics, the training emphasizes microeconomic theory; econometrics; public finance; industrial organization; labor economics; and interactions with other disciplines, including clinical medicine. This concentration prepares students for research and teaching careers as health economists.
Ethics (Professor Allan M. Brandt, Chair). The ethics concentration integrates quantitative and qualitative approaches to the analysis of ethical issues in health policy and clinical practice. Students in this track will focus on developing skills in a range of disciplines, with the goal of evaluating, through empirically-based research, how moral, ethical, and socio-cultural values shape health policies as well as clinical practices.
Management (Professor Gary Pisano, Chair). The management track concentration prepares students to do research on the organizational, managerial, and strategic issues facing health care providers, payers, and other players in the health care market. Students in this track will learn how theories and concepts from fields such as technology and operations management, organizational behavior, organizational ecnomics, and competitive strategy can be applied to health care organizations. Students in this track should have a strong interest in pursuing research on such issues as the design and improvement of health care delivery processes, approaches for improving health care quality and productivity, the development and adoption of new medical technologies, financial incentives in health care, the new role of patients as consumers in health care, the appropriate ownership structure of hospitals and other health care providers, and the management of professional health care staffs.
Medical Sociology (Professor Paul D. Cleary, Chair). In this track, students will learn about and contribute to knowledge in several research areas that are extremely important to health policy, including the study of professions and professional behavior; the structure of health care organizations and systems; the impact of organizational and professional change on the structure of medical work; organizational improvement programs and their evaluations; evaluation of intervention programs; the diffusion of innovations across providers and organizations; and the behavior of patients and consumers—including consumer evaluations of health care quality and patient perspectives on the process and outcomes of care.
Political Analysis (Professor Robert J. Blendon, Chair). This concentration is intended for students who wish to do research on political behavior and its effect in the health field. Students will study theories of public opinion formation, voting behavior, legislative behavior, interest group influence, and political strategy as well as examine the role of both political institutions and the media on influencing health policy outcomes. The research methodologies most utilized in this track include survey research methods and quantitative statistical methods appropriate for large-scale databases. Graduates of this concentration will likely teach and do research on the politics of health care and will be involved with government, professional, and consumer groups on research projects related to the politics of public policy in the health field.
Statistics and Evaluative Science (Professors Barbara J. McNeil and Professor Stephen B. Soumerai, Co-chairs). The concentration in statistics and evaluative science includes statistics and probability, and quantitative methods in biometry, economics, epidemiology, psychology, and sociology. This training enables students to design experiments and surveys, to perform health outcome assessment studies, to develop statistical models and analyses to evaluate these studies, and to make statistical inferences from observational data sets that arise from health policy and medical care processes. This concentration prepares students to evaluate alternative policy options in health care.
Applications: The application deadline is December 15th for admission in the following fall. To request admissions material, applicants should contact the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Byerly Hall, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138—(617) 495-5315 —or visit the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences web page (www.gsas.harvard.edu/admissions) to apply on-line or to request an application. Important additional information on financial aid and other aspects of the Ph.D. Program in Health Policy is available from Joan P. Curhan, Director, Ph.D. Program in Health Policy, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138— joan—curhan@harvard.edu or (617) 496-5412. Website: www.fas.harvard.edu/~healthpl
Primarily for Graduates
Health Policy 2000 (formerly Health Policy 2000hf). Core Seminar in Health Policy
Catalog Number: 4522
David M. Cutler, Richard G. Frank (Medical School), and Joseph P. Newhouse (Kennedy School, Medical School, Public Health)
Full course (indivisible). Tu., Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
Topics include the financing and organization of health care, public health, political analysis, medical manpower, health law and ethics, technology assessment, prevention, mental health, long-term care, and quality of care.
Note: Required for doctoral candidates in Health Policy and open to others by permission of instructor. Offered jointly with the Kennedy School of Government as HCP-597 and HCP-598.
*Health Policy 3000. Doctoral Dissertation Research
Catalog Number: 8422
Members of the Committee on Higher Degrees in Health Policy
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Dissertation research.
*Health Policy 3002. Graduate Reading Course: Mental Health Policy
Catalog Number: 3528
Richard G. Frank (Medical School) 1371 and Joseph P. Newhouse (Kennedy School, Medical School, Public Health) 2425
Half course (throughout the year). Hours to be arranged.
*Health Policy 3010. Graduate Reading Course: Ethics
Catalog Number: 9241
Allan M. Brandt 3031
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
*Health Policy 3020. Graduate Reading Course: Political Analysis
Catalog Number: 3781
Robert J. Blendon 2712
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
The purpose of this research seminar is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of research concerning the politics surrounding health policy and problems. Participants will discuss recent examples of research from a range of methodological approaches and will present their own work-in-progress. Graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars are welcome to present research at all stages of the research process. Occasionally, speakers will be invited to present.
*Health Policy 3030. Graduate Reading Course: Organizational Behavior
Catalog Number: 1826
Paul D. Cleary (Medical School) 2713
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Cross-listed Courses
Economics 2460 (formerly Economics 2910). The Health Economics Workshop
*Economics 3460chf. Research in Health Economics
General Education 186. Introduction to Health Care Policy
[Quantitative Reasoning 24. Health Economics]
The Interfaculty Initiative offers support for the study of health policy by undergraduate students concentrating in departments or committees. For a copy of “A Course Guide for Undergraduates Interested in Health Policy, Harvard University,” please contact Joan Curhan, Administrative Director, Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy at: joan—curhan@harvard.edu