Public health in action – Health economist improves delivery of care

Li-Wu Chen, Ph.D., looks at the big picture.

Trained as a health economist, he has studied the access, cost and quality of health services for 13 years.

In doing so, he has helped reshape health care delivery, as well as the practice of public health.

Li-Wu Chen, Ph.D.

“Through health services research, we want to produce better evidence to inform policy makers and public health practitioners about how to improve the delivery of health care as well as the practice of public health,” said Dr. Chen, associate professor and interim chairman of Health Services Research and Administration in UNMC’s College of Public Health.

Dr. Chen is particularly interested in studies related to the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of health care, health insurance, health care utilization, access to health care and public health systems.

“There also is a significant gap in the knowledge about how to better organize, finance and deliver public health services within various public health systems,” he said.

About the series In anticipation of the May 18 opening of the Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health, UNMC Today will feature regular stories about public health workers and students and how they contribute to health care. Previous stories featured: biostatistician Jane Meza, Ph.D.; project evaluator Melissa Tibbits, Ph.D.; and Shawn Gibbs, Ph.D.

His work affects all Nebraskans.

Collaborating with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, he received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to establish a statewide Public Health Practice-Based Research Network. As co-principal investigator, Dr. Chen engages the public health practice community to identify, conduct and translate relevant research.

He also is director of a project that has published health economic profiles for all of Nebraska’s 93 counties. In turn, local communities use the reports to seek grants, bolster federally qualified health center applications, develop their hospital’s strategic plans and aid in the rural health clinic certification process.

His other current projects include studies that:

• Examine the effectiveness and challenges of implementing quality improvement strategies for local health departments in Nebraska;
  
• Investigate the measurements of return on investment analysis for public health programs;
  
• Assess the workforce capacity, competencies and training needs in local health departments; and
  
• Describe the characteristics of the uninsured and underinsured populations in Nebraska.

“It’s most rewarding when my research work — or the work of our department’s faculty, staff and students — makes a difference in better informing policy makers and/or practitioners about how to improve the delivery of health care as well as the practice of public health,” Dr. Chen said.