Penn Today highlights a recent research article published in Medical Care co-authored by Research Associates Rachel M. Werner and Norma B. Coe which examines racial and ethnic disparities in Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions hospitalizations among Medicare Advantage enrollees overall and by star rating.
Citations:
"Racial Differences in Access to Medicare Plans Have Health Consequences," Penn Today, January 4, 2023.
Park S, Werner RM, Coe NB. "Association of Medicare Advantage Star Ratings With Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions" Medical Care 60(12):p 872-879, December 2022.
Penn LDI highlights a virtual panel discussion moderated by Research Associate Rachel M. Werner which focuses on America's Health Care facilities of last resort and the precarious shape of the health care safety net.
Citations:
"The U.S. Health Care Safety Net: Intact, But Still Seriously Endangered," Penn LDI, H Levins, December 9, 2022.
Rachel M. Werner and Peter Groeneveld (PARC Research Associates) were featured in Penn LDI. The studies they co-authored examine the relationship between extreme heat and mortality, one published in Jama Network Open and the other in Circulation.
Citations:
During a virtual seminar featuring top experts and U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Research Associates Mary Ersek and Rachel M. Werner emphasized the need to grapple with inadequate quality measures and inequitable patient care as part of a plan to improve nursing home quality. Ersek and Werner are among 12 co-authors of a consensus study published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff. The seminar was organized by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.
Citations:
Norma B. Coe, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Rachel M. Werner (PSC/PARC Research Associates) were quoted in a recent LDI Blog post about the new Get Experience in Aging Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP). The program will support underrepresented undergraduate students who are interested in health and aging.
Rachel M. Werner and Norma B. Coe's (PSC/PARC Research Associates) latest Health Services Paper paper was featured in a Penn LDI Blog post. The paper is entitled "Racial and ethnic disparities in access to and enrollment in high-quality Medicare Advantage plans."
In an NPR article: "A Shortage of Health Aides is Forcing out those who Wish to Get Care at Home," PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner shares that government needs to invest more in long-term care and infrastructure, as well as home health aides, who are an underapreciated and vulnerable work force.
Citation:
"A Shortage of Health Aides is Forcing out those who Wish to Get Care at Home," National Public Radio, N Krebs, May 5, 2022.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and Mary Ersek (PARC Research Associate) co-authored a National Academy of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report calling for sweeping reorganization of the nursing home industry entitled, "The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality." The report points out that despite nursing home residents making up less than half of one percent of the U.S. population, as of October 2021, they accounted for approximately 19 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. The report shows “the pandemic also highlighted the pervasive ageism evident in undervaluing the lives of older adults.” Read more in the LDI Research Update.
In the US News article "To Families’ Dismay, Biden Nursing Home Reform Doesn’t View Them as Essential," PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) states that greater acknowledgement, support and training is needed for informal care givers. The article also cites a study by Werner and PARC Research Associate Norma B. Coe, "Informal Caregivers Provide Considerable Front-Line Support In Residential Care Facilities And Nursing Homes" from the journal Health Affairs.
Citations:
Norma B. Coe (PSC/PARC Research Associate) and Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) authored an LDI blog post entitled, "Family and Friends are the Invisible Workforce in Long-term Care," about their new research published in Health Affairs. These findings help to explain the stories of staffing shortages and burnout in nursing homes under COVID despite no apparent drop in staff hours, when visitor bans were one of the first policy responses to the outbreak. The bans essentially eliminated this invisible workforce, increasing the care demands on the staff, on top of the extra work of the COVID protocols and infections themselves.
New study conducted by PARC Associate Rachel M. Werner titled "Medicaid Expansion Alone Not Associated With Improved Finances, Staffing, Or Quality At Critical Access Hospitals" published in The Health Affairs Journal was featured in a Penn LDI Blog.
New study published by Norma B. Coe (PSC/PARC Research Associate) and Rachel M. Werner in JAMA Network Open titled "Trends in Receipt of Help at Home After Hospital Discharge Among Older Adults in the US" was cited in a Penn LDI Blog post on the importance of needing expert help at home for older adults after their discharge from the hospital.
Rachel Werner's (PARC Research Associate) Journal of the American Medical Directors Association paper, was featured in a Penn LDI Blog titled " Post- Acute Care Shifts Away from Nursing Homes"
New research conducted by PARC Associates Rachel M. Werner and Peter Groeneveld on changes in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program [SNAP] policies and prevalence of Diabetes, published in Diabetes Care was featured in a Penn LDI Blog.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) recently authored two LDI research updates entitled, Private Equity’s Impact on Nursing Home Quality and When Accountable Care and Bundled Payments Intersect, Patients Benefit.
New study by PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner quantifying patient benefits when Bundled Payments and Medicaid ACO's intersect published in JAMA Health Forum was featured in a Penn LDI Blog.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) and co-author Paula Chatterjee wrote an article published in JAMA Network Open entitled, "Gender Disparity in Citations in High-Impact Journal Articles." Werner and Chatterjee beg the question: Are academic articles written by men and women in high-impact medical journals cited differently? In this cross-sectional study of 5554 articles, those written by women primary or senior authors had fewer citations than those written by men primary or senior authors. Articles written by women as both primary and senior authors had approximately half the number of citations as those authored by men as both primary and senior authors. These findings suggest that gender-based differences in article citations may be a key contributor to disparities in the advancement and promotion of women in academic medicine. Werner and Chatterjee note, “We must focus on ensuring that women in academic medicine have a level playing field that equally values and promotes their successes.” Their research has since been featured in The Guardian, MedicalXpress, and on the LDI website as a Research Snapshot.
PARC Associates, Julia Lynch, Rachel Werner, and PSC Associate, Sharon Wolf, were featured in Penn Today discussing the unequal effects exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic issues which contribute to these inequalities, and solutions for addressing inequalities in politics, health care, and education.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and co-author David Asch wrote an Op-ed published in The Washington Post. Their research in JAMA Network Open entitled, "Patient and Hospital Factors Associated With Differences in Mortality Rates Among Black and White US Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized With COVID-19 Infection," shows that the mortality rate among Black patients hospitalized with COVID-19 would be 10% lower if they were cared for in the same hospitals where White patients were admitted.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate ) and co-author David Asch wrote an Op-ed published in The Washington Post. Their research in JAMA Network Open entitled,"Patient and Hospital Factors Associated With Differences in Mortality Rates Among Black and White US Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized With COVID-19 Infection," shows that the mortality rate among Black patients hospitalized with COVID-19 would be 10% lower if they were cared for in the same hospitals where White patients were admitted.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) and Norma Coe (PSC/PARC Research Associate) authored a new paper entitled, "Nursing Home Staffing Levels Did Not Change Significantly During COVID-19," published in Health Affairs. The study examines nurse staffing levels, workload, and self-reported stress levels during the pandemic. The study was featured in a recent installment of the LDI Health Policy$ense blog and cited in McKnights Long Term Care News.
Norma Coe (PARC Research Associate) and Rachel Werner (PSC/PARC Research Associate) co-authored an Op-ed published in Newsweek. Their piece recognizes and discusses the importance of including home care workers in Biden's infrastructure plan.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) participated in a Penn LDI Seminar that focused on the clinical logistics of addressing social determinants of health. Watch the seminar and read more here.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) interviewed OptumHealth CEO, Wyatt Decker, about the latest pandemic-driven changes in health care and his prognosis of how the post-COVID landscape of payment systems and delivery innovations will look. Read more in Penn LDI news.
New research conducted by PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner on the Future of Value Based Payment which led to the published White Paper and Brief, both of which have been cited in a Penn LDI Blog.
New research published by PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner titled "Association of Medicaid Expansion With Quality in Safety-Net Hospitals" published in JAMA Internal Medicine was featured in a Penn LDI Blog.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and Mary Ersek (PARC Research Associate) were appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes. Read more about this announcement on the LDI news page.
New research published by PARC Research Associate Rachel M. Werner on correlation between informal caregiving and Balancing Incentive Program in states participating in Patient Protection and BIP for the years 2011-2018. This research, published in JAMA Network Open was featured in a Penn LDI blog on Improving Care for Older Adults.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associates) was featured in Penn Today about the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the healthcare industry. Watch the recent LDI virtual seminar.
Allison K. Hoffman (PARC Research Associate), Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate), and Norma B. Coe (PARC Research Associate) co-authored a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine about Long-Term Care Policy after COVID-19. Read more in Penn Today.
New initiative called Bold Solutions: Dismantle Racism. Advance Health led by PSC/PARC Research Associates Atheendar Venkatramani, Rachel Werner, Kevin Volpp and Alison Buttenheim was featured in a Penn LDI blog.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and Allison K. Hoffman (PARC Research Associate) were featured in a pro versus con article in The Philadelphia Inquirer about why it's time to improve nursing homes.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and co-author recently penned an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer about support for Latino and Black residents in nursing homes.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) was featured in a recent segment of LDI's Experts at Home series. In the discussion, experts dove into remote health care delivery.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) penned an article in The Washington Post about why hospitals have struggled to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE).
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) is part of a team of LDI Senior Research Fellows who will lead a new project at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP). The new project received a $5 million, 5-year grant for the implementation of "Age-Friendly Health System" (AFHS) concepts throughout 54 VA health facilities across Pennsylvania.
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) wrote a piece for the Health Policy$ense blog entitled, "In The Time of COVID-19, We Should Move High-Intensity Postacute Care Home."
Rachel Werner (PARC Research Associate) was quoted in a new LDI article about how the COVID-19 virus has impacted nursing homes.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and LDI colleague, David Grande, penned an article published in The Washington Post about the prospect of reopening the economy and stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) and Alison M. Buttenheim (PSC Research Associate) were featured in an LDI Virtual Seminar, the first in the new "Experts at Home" series. The panel discusses the conundrums of COVID-19 including a timeline for treatment and vaccine, social distancing, and vulnerable children.
Rachel M. Werner (PARC Research Associate) discusses the false tradeoff between economic health and public health. Read more at The Washington Post.
PSC & PARC Associates and Affiliates, Norma B. Coe, Pilar Gonalons-Pons, Rachel M. Werner, and Nancy A. Hodgson, joined top University of Pennsylvania health policy experts and members of the Penn class of 1969 a couple weeks ago on a panel with the Leonard Davis Institute.
Rachel M. Werner was interviewed by LDI about her new position as the First Female and First Physician-Economist Executive Director.
University of Pennsylvania Provost Wendell Pritchett and Perelman School of Medicine Dean J. Larry Jameson are pleased to announce the appointment of PARC Associate, Rachel M. Werner as Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI).
Penn Today talks about new research by Rachel M. Werner, of the Population Aging Research Center, found that post-hospital care costs and cuts impact readmission. “We found clear tradeoffs: While home health care may cost less, it doesn’t have the same intensity of care as a skilled nursing facility, which may be sending many [patients] back into the hospital.”
Research by Rachel M. Werner and co-authors was mentioned in a Vox article about healthcare policies and health insurance
Four professors are joining the elite ranks of the National Academy of Medicine, elected for their “accomplishments and contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.” The new members are the Perelman School of Medicine’s Susan Domchek and Marie Celeste Simon, as well as Daniel Polsky and Rachel Werner, who also have appointments at Wharton.
Congratulations to PARC Researcher Rachel Werner, on earning the 2018 Excellence in Teaching Award for her work in the Master of Science in Health Policy (MSHP) program.