TUES 16 MAY 2023 

Doctor Consultations - In person versus Online (joint with Amanda Dahlstrand and Nestor Le Nestour)

We study the effects of meetings between patients and doctors (primary care physicians) taking place online versus in-person. The decision whether to deliver services online or in-person is crucial in many settings, but there is relatively little evidence about its consequences. This decision is particularly important for delivering primary healthcare, due to the potential implications for patient health, the cost of healthcare provision, and the differential access that patients have to in-person care depending on their location and socioeconomic status. To shed light on this question, we assemble new data, which allow us to follow the health treatments and outcomes of (anonymized) individual patients in Sweden. We use variation in the effectively random assignment of patients to nurses with different propensities to refer patients to online versus in-person doctor meetings. We then study the costs and health consequences of this decision, including on doctor-patient meeting duration, patient satisfaction, health diagnosis, prescription, and subsequent hospitalizations.

Bio: Guy Micheals is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a research associate at Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the LSE. He also serves as an associate editor at the Economic Journal. His research interests include labor economics, urban economics, and economic development. His research focuses on urbanization, labor market inequality, and technological change. He has a B.Sc. in Mathematics, magna cum laude, from Tel-Aviv University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In Sandwiches and Soft drinks from 12:30

Meeting Information - Zoom

THUR 25 MAY 2023

Doctor William Feldman - The high costs of treating asthma and COPD in the United States

Abstract: Patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rely on inhalers to control their symptoms. Yet, these products remain expensive, in part because brand-name manufacturers have obtained numerous patents on inhalers, including on their delivery devices. Between 2000 and 2021, manufacturers earned $178 billion on these products in the US—nearly two-thirds of which accrued after patents on active ingredients had expired. This seminar will explore how brand-name manufacturers have limited generic competition on these drug-device combinations and kept prices high.

Bio: Dr Feldman is a pulmonologist, intensivist, and health services researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he has joint appointments in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. His research focuses on drug pricing, FDA regulation, pharmaceutical policy, and COPD outcomes. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee and Associate Director of the Ethics Service at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Meeting Information - Zoom

Previous events

See past Department of Health Policy events here.