Uwe Reinhardt

Uwe E. Reinhardt is the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton University. Reinhardt is a prominent scholar in health care economics and a frequent speaker and author on subjects ranging from the war in Iraq to the future of Medicare.

Biography

A native of Osnabrück, Germany, Reinhardt was shaped by his experiences during World War II, which he has written about in recent op-ed pieces. Reinhardt received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Saskatchewan and a PhD in economics from Yale University. Since 1968, Reinhardt has taught at Princeton University, beginning as an assistant professor of economics. His teaching experience includes courses in both economic theory and policy, accounting, and health economics and policy. Reinhardt's scholarly work has focused on economics and policy and includes more far-reaching topics such as cost-benefit analyses of the Lockheed L-1011 Tri Star and the Space Shuttle.

Research

Reinhardt's most recent research has focused on hospital pricing, systems of health care around the world, Medicare reform, and health care spending. His work has appeared in Health Affairs, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and The British Medical Journal.

In a recent paper, Reinhardt discusses the obstacles to success of consumer-directed health care in light of the lack of transparency in hospital pricing. Reinhardt suggests several reforms that could lead to better information on hospital pricing for consumer decision-making, including a national set of Diagnosis-related group weights to which each hospital could then apply their own conversion factor. Reinhardt's previous work on hospitals examined the tax and cost of equity capital advantages of not-for-profit hospitals over for-profit hospitals.

Reinhardt's scholarship has often analyzed the U.S. health care system in relation to systems around the world. His research has argued that higher U.S. health spending is a result of higher U.S. per capita gross domestic product (GDP) as well as an intricate and disjointed payment system. Reinhardt's work on foreign systems of health care includes a recent analysis of Switzerland that appeared in JAMA. Reinhardt argues that there is little correlation between the prevalence of consumer choice and the high quality of Swiss health care.

In 2003, Reinhardt, along with 14 other prominent health policy experts and private health care industry leaders, signed an open letter arguing that Medicare should lead the U.S. health care system in paying for performance by tying financial reimbursement to quality measures.

Reinhardt's work on health care spending includes a debunking of the popular myth that the aging of the U.S. population is driving the growth in health care spending.

Advisory Roles

In addition to his university duties, Reinhardt has been active as an advisor for government, non-profit organizations, and private industry. In 1978, Professor Reinhardt was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, on whose Governing Council he served until 1982. At the Institute, he has served on a number of study panels, including, the Committee on the Implications of For-Profit Medicine, the Committee on Technical Innovation in Medicine, the Committee on the Implications of a Physicians Surplus, and the Committee on the U.S. Physician Supply. In 1996, he was appointed to the Board of Health Care services of the Institute.

From 1986-1995, Reinhardt served three consecutive three-year terms as a Commissioner on the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC), established in 1986 by the Congress to advise it on issues related to the payment of physicians. Reinhardt serves as a Commissioner for the Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Reinhardt was or is a member of numerous editorial boards, among them The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The Journal of Health Economics, the Milbank Quarterly, and Health Affairs.

Currently, Reinhardt serves as a trustee of Duke University and the Hambrecht and Quist Healthcare Investors and Life Sciences Investors Funds. Reinhardt also serves on the Board of Directors of Boston Scientific, Amerigroup Corporation, and Triad Hospitals, Inc.

Selected Articles

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/3/819 "Health Care Spending And Use Of Information Technology In OECD Countries."] "Health Affairs", May/June 2006, 25(3): 819-831.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/1/57 "The Pricing Of U.S. Hospital Services: Chaos Behind A Veil Of Secrecy."] "Health Affairs", January/February 2006; 25(1): 57-69.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.w5.549v1 "Variations In California Hospital Regions: Another Wake-Up Call For Sleeping Policymakers."] "Health Affairs", Web Exclusive , Nov 16, 2005.

* [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/875736401.html?dids=875736401:875736401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Aug+1%2C+2005&author=Uwe+E.+Reinhardt&desc=Who%27s+Paying+for+Our+Patriotism%3F Who's Paying for our Patriotism] "Washington Post", Aug 1, 2005; A17.

* [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/292/10/1227 "The Swiss Health System: Regulated Competition Without Managed Care."] "JAMA", Sep 8 2004; 292(10):1213-20.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/3/10 "U.S. Health Care Spending In An International Context."] "Health Affairs", May/June 2004; 23(3): 10-25.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/1/107 "An Information Infrastructure For The Pharmaceutical Market."] "Health Affairs", January/February 2004; 23(1): 107-112.

* [http://www.denverpost.com/archives "Little hope for the uninsured."] "Denver Post", January 25, 2004; E4.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/22/6/8 "Paying For Performance: Medicare Should Lead."] "Health Affairs", November/December 2003; 22(6): 8-10.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/6/27 "Does The Aging Of The Population Really Drive The Demand For Health Care?"] "Health Affairs", November/December 2003; 22(6): 27-39.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.w3.376v1/DC1 "Is There Hope for the Uninsured?"] "Health Affairs", Web Exclusive, August 27, 2003.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/16 "Reference Pricing For Drugs: Is It Compatible With U.S. Health Care?"] "Health Affairs", May/June 2003; 22(3): 16-30.

* [http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/3/89 "It’s The Prices, Stupid: Why The United States Is So Different From Other Countries."] "Health Affairs", May/June 2003; 22(3): 89-105.

* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B12F635550C718EDDAA0894DB404482 "Innocents In Uniform."] "New York Times", March 22, 2003; A5.

External links

* [http://www.princeton.edu/~westcoll/reinhard.html Uwe Reinhardt's remarks on Princeton Class Day 1995]
* [http://www.npr.org/search.php?text=uwe+reinhardt&sort=DREDATE%3Anumberdecreasing&aggId=0&prgId=0&topicId=0&how_long_ago=0 Uwe Reinhardt's appearances on National Public Radio]
* [http://www.iom.edu Institute of Medicine official web site]
* [http://www.kff.org/about/kcmu.cfm Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured official web site]
* [http://www.hqcm.com/ Hambrecht and Quist Capital Investors official web site]
* [http://www.bostonscientific.com/ Boston Scientific official web site]
* [http://www.triadhospitals.com/ Triad Hospitals, Inc. official web site]