Health Outcomes & PharmacoEconomic Research
The Center for Health Outcomes and PharmacoEconomic Research (the HOPE Center) assesses health care interventions from a clinical, economic and humanistic view. Established in 1986 by J. Lyle Bootman, the center collaborates with researchers, academic institutions, healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical firms worldwide. Research focuses include cost-effectiveness analysis, quality-of-life assessment, pharmaceutical policy analysis and drug-use evaluation.
Center News
HOPE Center announces AzAHEC fellowship program
The Arizona Area Health Education Centers Program (AzAHEC) has launched an interprofessional academic fellowship program in clinical outcomes and comparative effectiveness research (COCER) focused on educating healthcare professionals in rural primary care. The new program is housed in the College of Pharmacy’s Center for Health Outcomes and PharmacoEconomic Research (the HOPE Center).
The AzAHEC COCER Fellowship Program is a two-year career development initiative that funds four postdoctorate fellows per year. The fellows come from four healthcare disciplines: one from family and community medicine (an MD), one from nursing (a DNP), one from pharmacy (a PharmD), and one from public health (a PhD or DrPH).
The 2011-2013 fellows are:
- Randa Kutob, MD, MPH
- Melanie Logue, RN, DNP, PhD
- Eleanor Olvey, PharmD, PhD
- Tomás Nuño, PhD
[Note: More information about each of the fellows appears in the story below.]
About 80 percent of each fellow’s time is spent in research training, collaborative research projects at the advanced levels of translational research (specifically, studies on interventions in the real world from the patient to the population levels), and a mentored research project. The remaining 20 percent of each fellow’s time is devoted to interprofessional primary care practice in environments that help underserved, predominantly rural, populations in the Tucson area.
“The AzAHEC COCER Fellowship Program aims to be an example of the future of healthcare for rural underserved patients, families, and communities in Arizona,” says Ivo Abraham, professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and an investigator in the HOPE Center.
“The program will demonstrate practice leadership across professions, evidence-based innovation across disciplines, knowledge and experience networks driven by the regional AzAHEC centers, and expertise to educate the primary care professionals of the future. The program intends to create a new type of clinician-educator for rural primary care: a person knowledgeable about and experienced in rural primary care, evidence-based innovation in health care, patient-centric and population-focused care, and the generation and application of new knowledge.”
AzAHEC funded the program with $1.7 million for three years.
For more information, contact Ivo Abraham, 520-626-4425.
Four AHEC COCER fellows join center
Four people joined the center in 2011 as fellows in the AHEC COCER program. COCER stands for "clinical outcomes and comparative effectiveness research." It is a fellowship program designed to help deliver primary care to rural areas. The fellows and their biosketches follow.
Randa Kutob, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Family & Community Medicine. She received her MD in 1992 at the University of Arizona (UA) and completed her Family Medicine residency in 1995, also at the University of Arizona. She joined the UA Department of Family & Community Medicine in 1997 after serving for 2 years as Director for Urgent Care Services at University Medical Center. In 2005, she completed a Masters in Public from the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Her early career focus was on medical education. She directed the Family and Community Medicine Clerkship from 2002-2007, and served as Chair of the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Educational Policy Committee (formerly referred to at the Curriculum Committee) in 2007. Her research publications focused on undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. She also (co)-authored and served a consultant on several online continuing medical education courses on topics such as culturally competent medical care, breast cancer diagnosis, intimate partner violence, and the management of chronic pain.
Dr. Kutob’s clinical work in primary care inspired her current research focus on promoting lifestyle change for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes. With funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), her research team created an Internet-based course for health care providers that focused on culturally competent care for patients with diabetes. She conducted a randomized controlled trial of the course’s effectiveness on a national sample of family medicine residents. With subsequent funding from NIDDK, she enhanced and conducted further research on this course, including the development of a cultural competence assessment tool for health providers.
She also conducted a study of group office visits for patients with diabetes (Group Visits for Treating Type 2 Diabetes in Hispanics grant (Bassford (PI)). Most recently, with support of the American Diabetes Association, she is serving as the PI on Families United/Familias Unidas. This three-year grant targets people who are at risk for diabetes but have not developed the disease yet. The core components of this six-month, family group office visit intervention are education on healthy food choices, weight loss/control, and increased physical activity utilizing an underlying cognitive behavioral approach.
Melanie D. Logue, PhD, DNP, APRN, CFNP, earned her dual PhD/DNP from the University of Arizona College of Nursing in 2011. During her graduate education, she worked as a research associate on a National Library of Medicine (NIH) funded project with her mentor, Dr. Judith A. Effken. The purpose of the research, titled Dynamic Network Analysis Decision Support Tool for Nurse Managers (DyNADS), was to use computational modeling that allows nurse managers to assess the organizational health of their patient care units and then engage in strategic planning through automated analysis techniques to improve their actual units’ safety and quality outcomes. This work gave her research experience in cognitive work analysis (a qualitative approach), survey methodology (a quantitative approach), and dynamic network modeling and is summarized in part in two papers published in the Journal of Nursing Administration (2010) and the International Journal of Medical Informatics (2011).
Prior to her appointment to the University of Arizona as a Clinical Outcomes and Comparative Effectiveness Research (COCER) Academic Fellow in the Health Outcomes and Practice Effectiveness (HOPE) Research Center, Dr. Logue was an Assistant Professor in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Grand Canyon University. Dr. Logue has worked as a primary care provider serving different populations and communities in her native state of Arizona for over 12 years. Her clinical experiences are what incited her interests in preventing disability and improving health outcomes in vulnerable populations.
Dr. Logue’s research is aimed at older adults with chronic illness and applying health information technologies (HIT) to prevent disability and empower self-management. She has developed and validated a conceptual model for predicting the barriers and facilitators to adopting personal health records (PHRs) and will be expanding and testing the model for its use in guiding effective interventions. Using her expertise in HIT, experience as a health care provider, and her research and practice doctorates, she plans to advance her translational science and improve healthcare delivery for seniors.
Dr. Logue currently serves as president for the nurse educator chapter of the Arizona Nurses Association. She is also a member of the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the Western Institute of Nursing, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, the Arizona Nurses Association Political Action Committee, and Sigma Theta Tau Beta Mu Chapter. In addition, Dr. Logue serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Peoria Unified School District and volunteers for various community events.
Tomas Nuño, PhD, is a Clinical Outcomes and Comparative Effectiveness Research (COCER) Academic Fellow in the Health Outcomes and PharmacoEconomic (HOPE) Research Center. He is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Community, Environment, and Policy at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH).
Dr. Nuño is a recent PhD graduate of the Epidemiology Graduate Program at the University of Arizona. His area of expertise is breast and cervical cancer screening among rural-dwelling Hispanic and American Indian women in Arizona. A key part of his work was the evaluation of a community-based, randomized controlled trial that provided a promotora-administered intervention to promote breast and cervical cancer screening in a rural community along the U.S.-Mexico border. His dissertation work has been recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health and Cancer Causes and Control.
Dr. Nuño has conducted other research such as barriers and facilitators to Hispanic participation in cancer clinical trials, comparison of patient and physician collected cervical cytology and human papillomavirus, diabetes education among Hispanics, and U.S.-Mexico cross-border workforce training needs. Dr. Nuño also has experience utilizing Centers for Disease Control Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for researching breast and cervical cancer screening patterns among rural populations. Dr. Nuño has taught CPH 376: Introduction to Health Sciences Statistics for the MEZCOPH since 2008.
Prior to his doctoral work in epidemiology, Dr. Nuño received his Bachelor’s degree in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis and his Master’s of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Arizona. In 2002, he received a National Institutes of Health Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Fellowship. Since 2003, he has been a Research Associate with the Arizona Health Sciences Center where he has worked closely with his mentor, Dr. Francisco Garcia. In 2004, he received a University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Yuma Friends Young Investigator Award and in 2007 he was recognized as an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Minority Scholar in Cancer Research. In 2009, he was recognized as a Susan G. Komen® for the Cure Scholar-in-Training. Dr. Nuño has authored 9 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 1 book chapter.
Eleanor L. Olvey is an Arizona Area Health Education Center (AzAHEC) Fellow in Clinical Outcomes and Comparative Effectiveness Research (COCER), a program coordinated by the Health Outcomes & PharmacoEconomic (HOPE) Research Center at the University of Arizona’s (UA) College of Pharmacy (COP). She received her PharmD degree from the UA COP in 2006. After graduation from the professional program, Dr. Olvey remained at the college to pursue a PhD in the pharmacoeconomics, policy and outcomes program, with a minor concentration in biostatistics. Her anticipated PhD defense is fall of 2011.
While Dr. Olvey has many clinical and research interests, her main therapeutic area of concentration continues to be in cardiovascular diseases, focusing on modeling and large database studies in this population. Examples of this work include developing decision analytic models and conducting comparative cost-effectiveness analyses of thrombolytic therapies for peripheral artery disease, and analyzing the impact of patient, clinician, and hospital factors on mortality and cost outcomes in adult and pediatric heart transplant recipients. Her dissertation topic primarily investigates the role of insurance on utilization of secondary pharmacotherapies for coronary artery disease in a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries.
Dr. Olvey has additional interest in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and biostatistics. She has had the privilege of lecturing on PROs at invited professional presentations, as well as introducing this area of outcomes research to PharmD students. Her interest in biostatistics has led to opportunities collaborating with clinicians in sports medicine, serving as a database manager and consultant to projects involving collegiate athletes.
Medical debt research published
Health insurance is not protecting Arizonans from having problems paying medical bills, and having bill problems is keeping families from getting needed medical care and prescription medicines, a new study by a HOPE Center researcher has found.
According to a study published online June 16, 2011, by the American Journal of Public Health, after taking age, income and health status into account, simply being insured does not lower the odds of accruing debt related to medical care or medications. In addition, says HOPE Center research scientist Patricia Herman, who directed the study, medical debt is a separate and better predictor of whether people will delay or forego needed medical care than their insurance status.
Read the entire news release about Herman's study here.
Listen to an interview Herman did about her research on the Bill Buckmaster radio show. Click on the following link, then click on the "play" arrow for the July 14th show. Herman's interview is right after the introduction from about 3:24 to 14:00: Bill Buckmaster show.
 | Kim Saverno receives fellowshipKim Saverno, PhD student in Pharmaceutical Economics, Policy and Outcomes, has been chosen to receive a 2011 Predoctoral Fellowship in Health Outcomes from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation.
The award, $25,000 for one year, will help Saverno complete her dissertation. She is investigating the impact of Medicare Part D on individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid within the state of Arizona. Saverno expects to receive the award at the ISPOR 16th Annual International Meeting in Baltimore in May. |
Amar Gupta appointed to HOPE Center
The center welcomed a new investigator in early 2011.
 | Amar Gupta, PhD, received an appointment as a HOPE Center investigator in January 2011. Dr. Gupta is the Thomas R. Brown Endowed Professor of Management and Technology, professor of entrepreneurship, and founding director of the Nexus for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NEXT) initiative at the UA Eller College of Management. He holds additional appointments in the College of Science and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. |
Dr. Gupta came to Tucson in 2004 after a 25-year tenure at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from IIT, Kanpur; a master’s degree in management from MIT; and a doctorate in computer science from IIT, Delhi.
He has served as an adviser to the World Health Organization and has headed research projects funded by many organizations, including NIH and the Critical Path Institute. His areas of interest include: opportunities and barriers related to interstate and transnational telemedicine; the application of the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory concept to mitigate health hazards associated with the graveyard shift; the three-pronged approach to health care that involves on-site personnel, off-site personnel, and computer-assisted decision-making; the merits and demerits of patients getting treatment in foreign countries; the outsourcing of radiology and other healthcare tasks; the integration of medical records from multiple sources in emergency situations; post-approval monitoring of safety of drugs; and new approaches to dissemination and customization of medical knowledge for diverse audiences.
“I am honored to become part of the HOPE Center,” says Gupta. “The growing challenges in the ability to provide quality healthcare services to diverse sections of the society at affordable prices motivates serious consideration of non-traditional approaches that could be more effective. The analysis should include consideration of implicit technical, organizational, public policy, legal, management, and economic issues. I look forward to working in these areas and other areas with my colleagues of the HOPE Center.”
More details about Gupta’s background, accomplishments, and papers, can be accessed at
http://next.eller.arizona.edu/people/gupta/.
PhD student completes internship at the World Health Organization
Ana Lucia Hincapie, PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Economics, Policy and Outcomes track, completed a six-week internship at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 15, 2011.
Her main project was to identify indicators that can be used to evaluate interventions aimed at improving patient safety in healthcare settings with poor information systems.
The indicators were in nine specific areas of patient safety, including adverse drug events, surgicical care and maternal health.
Patricia Herman joins center
The center is pleased to introduce a new research scientist who joined us during 2010.
| Patricia Herman, ND, PhD, joined the center in October. Dr. Herman is an NIH-trained research methodologist, a resource economist and a licensed practicing naturopathic physician. She has been an economist for 29 years and worked in policy and cost-effectiveness analysis across a number of disciplines, including health care. She holds a PhD in psychology, program evaluation and research methods from the University of Arizona. |
Dr. Herman's training and experience in research methodology includes statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, econometrics, psychometrics, and program evaluation as well as general and whole systems research design and health services research methods.
Her research interests focus on the concept of health and its value as a personal and national resource. To this end she has examined health behaviors (e.g., tobacco use) and their effect on health, health insurance and its impact on access to health care and medical debt, worksite and hospital-based care, and individuals’ use of non-conventional medicine.
Dr. Herman maintains a clinical practice at Sierra Tucson, an in-patient psychiatric hospital, where she consults regarding drug-herbal interactions.
Students meet noted health economist
A group of graduate students and Dan Malone, PhD, professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, traveled to the University of New Mexico in October to meet Michael Drummond, arguably the most influential health economist in the world.
All of the students were graduate students in the Pharmaceutical Economics, Policy and Outcomes program.
“It was an amazing opportunity…to have an open discussion with Dr. Drummond about the future of pharmaceutical economics, including career opportunities within our field,” says student Kim Saverno. “His unparalleled expertise was evident to all in the room, especially as he responded to detailed questions about various countries’ health policies.”
Photo: The students who met with Drummond were (from left): Kim Saverno, Prasadini Perera, (Dr. Drummond,) Ana Hincapie, Adrienne Gilligan and Amanda Harrington.
Faculty and graduate students presented posters at the Arizona Pharmacy Alliance Annual Meeting in July 2010
Graduate students presented at the May 2010 meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
News Archives
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