Health Policy and Management Research

‘Financial toxicity’ is a harmful side effect of advanced and metastatic cancer

April 25, 2019
Financial toxicity — the state when financial burden is a source of harm to individual patients — is burdensome for advanced- and metastatic-cancer patients in ways that may differ from earlier-stage patients, according to new research from the Gillings School.

Minimum wage increases are associated with reduced numbers of suicide deaths

March 21, 2019
Researchers at the Gillings School may have discovered a strategy to slow the increase of deaths by suicide – addressing the financial anxiety caused by low wages. Their new study shows that increases in state minimum wages have been associated with decreases in suicide rates in recent years. Photo by Ethan Sykes.

UNC researchers solve racial disparities in treatment for early-stage lung cancer patients

February 4, 2019
Drs. Sam Cykert and Geni Eng are co-authors of a study showing that a pragmatic system-based intervention within cancer treatment centers can eliminate existing disparities in treatment and outcomes for black patients with early-stage lung cancer.

Study examines relationship between length of hospital stay and time of discharge for pediatric patients

January 8, 2019
Health policy and management researchers examined the discharge records of pediatric patients at N.C. Children's Hospital. Photo by Carlos Ebert.

Reflecting on 70 years of human rights in public health

December 10, 2018
Today, an annual global celebration recognizes Human Rights Day, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. UNC Gillings adjunct faculty member Dr. Benjamin Mason Meier discusses this anniversary in the context of human rights in public health.

Prostate cancer care for older men estimated to cost Medicare $1.2 billion

September 14, 2018 Dr. Justin Trogdon led a study estimating that screening for and treatment of prostate cancer in men ages 70 years or older, which is not recommended by national guidelines, cost Medicare more than $1.2 billion over a three-year period.

Law intended to increase access to behavioral health care had little impact, study finds

September 8, 2018 A 2008 law that required insurance plans to offer mental health and addiction benefits at the same level as physical health benefits did not significantly reduce out-of-pocket spending on outpatient behavioral health services or increase their use, according to new research.

A new threat to immigrants’ health: The ‘public charge’ rule

August 3, 2018 Drs. Krista Perreira and Jonathan Oberlander are co-authors of an article about a proposed federal plan that could have major life and health consequences for millions of immigrant families. Photo by Rutgers School of Nursing.

Oberlander in NEJM: Opposition to ‘Obamacare’ has resulted in promises to repeal, but no proposals to improve policy

July 31, 2018 Dr. Jonathan Oberlander has written about the Affordable Care Act for nearly a decade. His new article in The New England Journal of Medicine describes the Act as being 'in purgatory' -- impossible to destroy as a result of its popularity and the purpose it serves, but made less effective through partisan dismemberment and defunding. Photo by Max Englund.

HPV screening found more effective than Pap test at identifying cervical cancer

July 25, 2018 Cervical cancer screening with cytology – commonly known as a Pap test – is one of the most widely used cancer control interventions in high-income settings. A recent study demonstrated, however, that HPV testing detects cervical dysplasia earlier and more accurately than cytology.