Health Systems

Professor Andrew Ryan and postdoctoral fellow Emily Shearer write how consolidating behavioral health beds and creating a freestanding emergency department could be a solution.

Young adults are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT for mental health advice, highlighting a massive shift in how people seek support. In this interview Dr. Ateev Mehrotra discusses the urgent need to balance AI's capacity for providing accessible, cost-effective care with its potential to cause harm.

As Americans approach Independence Day, we should reflect on the foundational ideals of our country. A central ideal, laid out nearly 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence, is our unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a core promise of America, but one that cannot be fully realized without one of its key enablers.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed secretary of Health and Human Services, some hoped that the responsibility of public office would temper his long-standing hostility toward vaccines. Instead, he is doing exactly what many of us feared: dismantling the systems that protect Americans from preventable infectious diseases.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he calls HHS Secretary Kennedy's reasoning for firing all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee "nonsense."

With private equity firms gobbling up health care facilities at a skyrocketing pace, researchers in the School of Public Health are working to uncover how rapid health care consolidation impacts patients, prices and physician practices.

In 2010, Rhode Island attempted a lively experiment in health care costs by limiting how much hospitals could increase the prices they charge. Fifteen years later, a new study led by a team of Brown University researchers suggests the hospital price growth mandate worked, not only cutting hospital prices directly, but also flowing downstream to lower consumer spending on health plan premiums.

Five years after the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, School of Public Health experts look to Washington as they weigh in on where our biosurveillance tools and preparedness systems stand now: What’s changed, what hasn’t and what must be built to make us ready for the next pandemic?

What happens when private equity firms buy hospitals and doctor’s offices?

If the administration acts immediately, it will protect the economy now
and lives in the future.

Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn government tear will have lasting effects on global health.

Several US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites and datasets related to HIV, LGBTQ people, youth health behaviors and more have been removed after the agency was directed to comply with executive orders from President Donald Trump. Epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo explains the consequences.

With eight months on the job, RIDOH Director Dr. Jerome Larkin visited the School of Public Health to discuss what makes the Rhode Island Department of Health unique nationwide.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health abruptly cancelled long-scheduled grant review panels and shut down external communications — with little explanation.

With federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a temporary freeze on public communications, some data and publications have not been released on their normal schedule.

From weight-loss drugs to nonopioid pain killers to AI, here are some important -- and positive -- trends in health care.

Dean of Brown University School of Public Health Dr. Ashish Jha, Senior National Correspondent for HuffPost Jonathen Cohn, and New York Times Opinion Columnist David French join Katy Tur to discuss Secretary of Health and Human Services appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the potential radical decisions he can make regarding vaccines and other health initiatives in America.

Health insurers and hospitals increasingly treat patients less as humans in need of care than consumers who generate profit.

What must be done to reduce the harmful health effects of major storms and make our communities ready for the short- and long-term impacts of severe weather events?

Some states are funding projects with little chance of making a difference, write current and former members of the Rhode Island Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee

With over half of America’s doctors now employed by large health systems rather than physician-owned practices, a team of Brown researchers is examining how this trend toward consolidation impacts health care costs, patient access and market competition.

The School of Public Health’s newest research center focuses on health care cost, access and outcomes by comparing data across the globe.

American life expectancy started dropping even before the pandemic. It’s a critical barometer of our nation’s health and a sign that all is not well in the U.S.

Here’s just the tip of the iceberg: $722.50 for a nurse to push a drug into an IV. $21,500 for ten stitches. The prices charged by hospitals are exorbitant and rising. Private health insurance premiums paid by working age adults are rising rapidly. Many Americans skip necessary medical care, while those who do get treated can end up bankrupt. With U.S. health care spending reaching $4.5 trillion in 2022, finding ways to cut costs has become increasingly urgent.

Survey examines Rhode Islanders’ perceptions of barriers to health and well-being and assesses health inequities in diverse communities.

Brown researcher awarded grant to assess the spillover impact of private equity practice acquisition on health care spending, quality and access outcomes

Every health care model involves people doing their best to balance competing priorities in the face of limited resources. In other words, every system involves tradeoffs.

An analysis of health care claims data, conducted in partnership with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, finds billions in excess health care spending following COVID-19 infection, and has important implications for pandemic preparedness.

The number of private equity firms has exploded in health care in recent years, spending hundreds of billions of dollars to buy physician practices, hospitals, laboratories and nursing homes. It’s a trend that should have everyone’s attention, from politicians to patients, because it can significantly increase costs, reduce access and even threaten patient safety.

Together, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute have awarded a 5-year, $5 million grant to create the Learning Health systems training to improve Disability and chronic condition care (LeaHD) center at Brown University.

Who owns your doctor’s office? More and more often nowadays, the answer is a private equity firm — a type of investment fund that buys, restructures, and resells companies.

5th annual statewide survey is a partnership between Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Brown University School of Public Health.

The Pandemic Center kicked off a new Brown Arts IGNITE film and media series with the pre-release screening of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s documentary “Shot in the Arm,” followed by panel discussion.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, visits Brown to share perspective on public health response in New York — from the Omicron wave to today.

Many Americans have lost confidence in the importance of public health recommendations like vaccines. Here’s why—and why they still matter.

Health care policymakers and industry leaders must reckon with the difficulties facing workers if we want to avert strikes.

Americans’ use of mental health services pivoted to remote visits and increased considerably, a new study found. Economists think both changes are here to stay.

In the Boston Globe, Professors Andy Ryan and David Meyers lay out why Medicare Advantage plans are costing taxpayers billions in excess spending—and how to fix it.

We sat down with doctoral candidate Patrick Kelly to discuss the needs of marginalized Americans who seek care on the periphery of our formal health care system.

HIV rates in Houston, Texas could decrease significantly with the expansion of Medicaid and increased use of preventive and antiviral medications, according to a new study.