Michael Chernew

Michael Chernew, PhD, is the Leonard D. Schaeffer Professor of Health Care Policy and the Director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation (HMR) Lab in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chernew’s research examines several areas related to improving the health care system including studies of novel benefit designs, Medicare Advantage, alternative payment models, low value care and the causes and consequences of rising health care spending.

Dr. Chernew is currently serving as the Chair of Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) while previously serving as the Vice Chair from 2012-2014 and a Member from 2008-2012. In 2000, 2004 and 2010, he served on technical advisory panels for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that reviewed the assumptions used by Medicare actuaries to assess the financial status of Medicare trust funds. He is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors and Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Health Connector Board. Dr. Chernew is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a senior Visiting Fellow at MITRE. He is currently a co-editor of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Dr. Chernew earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD in economics from Stanford University. In 1998, he was awarded the John D. Thompson Prize for Young Investigators by the Association of University Programs in Public Health. In 1999, he received the Alice S. Hersh Young Investigator Award from the Association of Health Services Research.

Honors & Awards

2014 Highly Cited Researchers (Top 1%) by Thompson Reuters

2013 AcademyHealth Article of the Year

2012 HCUP Outstanding Article of the Year Award; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

2009 Fifteenth Annual Health Care Research Award; National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation

1999 Alice S. Hersh Young Investigator Award; Association of Health Services Research

1998 John D. Thompson Award; Association of University Programs in Health Administration

1997 Best Poster; International Society for Technology Assessment in Health Care

1988-92 National Science Foundation Fellowship

1991 Olin Foundation Research Support

1986 Bernard Schanbaum Award ast Updated 03/25/13; Best Undergraduate Sr. Honors Thesis in Economics

1985 Phi Beta Kappa

Publications

Health Care Spending, Utilization, and Quality 8 Years into Global Payment Authors: Song Z, Ji Y, Safran DG, Chernew ME New England Journal of Medicine 2019-07-18

Getting More Savings from ACOs - Can the Pace Be Pushed? Authors: McWilliams JM, Landon BE, Rathi VK, Chernew ME. New England Journal of Medicine 2019-06-06

Initial Opioid Prescriptions among U.S. Commercially Insured Patients, 2012-2017. Authors: Zhu W, Chernew ME, Sherry TB, Maestas N. New England Journal of Medicine 2019-03-14

Social Risk Adjustment of Quality Measures for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in a Commercially Insured US Population. Authors: Nguyen CA, Gilstrap LG, Chernew ME, McWilliams JM, Landon BE, Landrum MB JAMA 2019-03-01

Paying Patients To Switch: Impact Of A Rewards Program On Choice Of Providers, Prices, And Utilization. Authors: Whaley CM, Vu L, Sood N, Chernew ME, Metcalfe L, Mehrotra A. Health Affairs 2019-03-01

Paying Patients To Switch: Impact Of A Rewards Program On Choice Of Providers, Prices, And Utilization. Authors: Whaley CM, Vu L, Sood N, Chernew ME, Metcalfe L, Mehrotra A. Health Affairs 2019-03-01

Potential Effects Of Eliminating The Individual Mandate Penalty In California. Authors: Fung V, Liang CY, Shi J, Seo V, Overhage L, Dow WH, Zaslavsky AM, Fireman B, Derose SF, Chernew ME, Newhouse JP, Hsu J. Health Affairs 2019-01-01

The Case For Downside Risk (Or Not) Authors: Michael E. Chernew Austin B. Frakt Health Affairs 2018-10-16

Changes in end-of-life care in the Medicare Shared Savings Program Authors: Gilstrap LG, Huskamp HA, Stevenson DG, Chernew ME, Grabowski DC, McWilliams JM Health Affairs 2018-10-01

Adverse Selection Into and Within the Individual Health Insurance Market in California in 2014 Authors: . Vicki Fung, Cassandra Peitzman, Julie Shi, Catherine Liang, William Dow, Alan Zaslavsky, Bruce Fireman, Stephen F. Derose, Michael Chernew, Joseph P. Newhouse, John Hsu Health Services Research 2018-10-01

Medicare Spending after 3 Years of the Medicare Shared Savings Program Authors: J. Michael McWilliams, M.D., Ph.D., Laura A. Hatfield, Ph.D., Bruce E. Landon, M.D., M.B.A., Pasha Hamed, M.A., Michael E. Chernew, Ph.D. The New England Journal of Medicine 2018-09-05

Effects of episode-based payment on health care spending and utilization: Evidence from perinatal care in Arkansas Authors: Caitlin Carroll, Michael Chernew, A. Mark Fendrick, Joe Thompson, Sherri Rose Journal of Health Economics 2018-09-01

Comparison of approaches for aggregating quality measures in population-based payment models Authors: . McDowell A, Nguyen CA, Chernew ME, McWilliams JM, Landon BE, Landrum MB. Health Services Research 2018-08-22

National Rates of Initiation and Intensification of Antidiabetic Therapy Among Patients With Commercial Insurance Authors: Lauren G. Gilstrap, Ateev Mehrotra, Barbara Bai, Sherri Rose, Rachel A. Blair and Michael E. Chernew American Diabetes Association Diabetes Care 2018-05-01

Promise and Reality of Price Transparency. Authors: Mehrotra A, Chernew ME, Sinaiko AD. New England Journal of Medicine 2018-04-05

Changes in hospital utilization three years into Maryland’s global budget program for rural hospitals. Authors: Roberts ET, Hatfield LA, McWilliams JM, Chernew ME, Done N, Gerovich S, Gilstrap LG, Mehrotra A Health Affairs 2018-04-03

Modelling Health Care Spending Growth of Older Adults Authors: Laura A. Hatfield, Melissa M. Fauvreault, Thomas G. McGuire and Michael E. Chernew Health Services Research 2018-02-01

Low-Value Service Use in Provider Organizations. Authors: Schwartz AL, Zaslavsky AM, Landon BE, Chernew ME, McWilliams JM. Health Services Research 2018-02-01

Changes in health care use associated with the introduction of hospital global budgets in Maryland Authors: Roberts ET, McWilliams JM, Hatfield LA, Gerovich S, Chernew ME, Gilstrap LG, Mehrotra A JAMA Internal Medicine 2018-01-16

Diffusion of Bevacizumab Across Oncology Practices: An Observational Study. Authors: Keating NL, Huskamp HA, Schrag D, McWilliams JM, McNeil BJ, Landon BE Chernew ME, Normand ST Medical Care 2018-01-05