We'd like to formally welcome our newest member of the Department, Assistant Professor Laura Keohane! We've developed the "Five Questions" interview to help us get to know Laura and the rest of our new incoming faculty members.   Five Questions with Laura Keohane ​Department: What drew you to the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt?

Abstract: The traditional Medicare program requires an enrollee to have a hospital stay of at least three consecutive calendar days to qualify for coverage of subsequent postacute care in a skilled nursing facility. This long-standing policy, implemented to discourage premature discharges from hospitals, might now be inappropriately lengthening hospital stays for patients who could be transferred sooner.

by Bill Snyder | Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, 10:30 AM The Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network, led by Vanderbilt University’s Russell Rothman, M.D., MPP, has been approved for a three-year, $8.5 million funding award from the independent Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to expand its efforts to improve healthcare throughout the Southeast.

Russell Rothman, M.D., MPP, professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Health Policy, chief of the Section of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, has been named assistant vice chancellor for Population Health Research.

August 5, 2015 - by Leslie Small Medicare's rule that says patients must stay in the hospital for three days before it will cover their care in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) may not be helping patients, a new study finds, and in fact may be costing Medicare plans money.

By Holly Fletcher, July 30, 2015: The woman, brought by family to Vanderbilt's emergency room from a rural county, was very sick with symptoms that pointed to a brain tumor. Of "extremely modest means" and uninsured, she had no way to pay for treatment and had delayed seeking care.

By Dan Gorenstein, July 29th, 2015:  When it comes to healthcare, it’s generally understood we have a spending problem. Namely, we spend too much. A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services suggests expenditures are picking back up after a recent historic slowdown. But even with the uptick, these numbers suggest the nation is making progress. Cornell economist Sean Nicholson says he can see some good news tucked into this economic forecast.

by Tami Luhby, July 28, 2015: After years of historically slow growth, health care spending is once again on the rise -- and it's expected to continue to accelerate over the next decade. Thanks in large part to the expansion of coverage under Obamacare, health care spending in the U.S. is projected to have hit $3.1 trillion, or $9,695 per person, last year. That's an increase of 5.5%, according to federal estimates released Tuesday. It's the first time the rate would exceed 5% since 2007.