Funding
Mission Statement: The Center helps to guide public policy by creating the data and conducting the research needed to understand today's complex health care market. It provides up-to-date information on changes in the health care system that may impact the health care marketplace and alter its capacity to provide high-quality care at competitive prices. It assesses issues related to the welfare of California consumers, especially affordability, availability, and access to health care, with a particular focus on low and moderate-income consumers. It concerns itself with the role of consumer choice and participation of front-line workers in the health care delivery system. It conducts studies and provides objective information to lawmakers, regulators, consumer-advocates, health care providers and the public at large.
The source of the initial $2 million funding for The Nicholas C. Petris Center was through the disposition of a State of California government trust fund in May 1999. The funding was to provide for research "... on health care markets and consumer welfare in the areas of consumer protection, the affordability of and access to health care, especially by low and moderate income consumers, the role of information in consumer choice and concentration, regulation and competition in the health care sector as well as other related areas of inquiry." 1
Petris Funded Projects
- An Economic Analysis of the Labor Market for Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants in California: 1997 - 2005
- Uninsured Californians and Access to Prescription Drugs
- The Impact of Decentralization on Indigent Health Spending in California
- Measuring Mental Health in California's Counties: What Can We Learn?
- Is There a Doctor in the House? An Examination of the Physician Workforce in California Over the Past 25 Years
- Anti-Trust Conference: Assessing Issues for California and the United States
- California's Closed Hospitals 1995-2000
- Hospital Charity Care with Reader [PDF]
- Charity Health Care Task Force [PDF]
- The States' Charity Care Laws
Since its founding, the Petris Center has also received funding that has been related to specific research projects and has come from the following public and private agencies:
Foundation And Privately Funded Projects
California HealthCare Foundation
Project Title:
The Impact of Proposition 63 on the Financing and Delivery of Mental Health Programs in CaliforniaDates of Activity:
March 10, 2005 to March 15, 2008Amount Awarded:
$1,050,000The purpose of the study is to track the implementation of Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act, including the county-level fiscal impact and changes in service delivery and the impact on selected mental health outcomes. Information gathered in this study will be used to inform policymakers, consumers and providers about the impact of funds on the availability and design of mental health services.
Project Title:
Hospital Service Changes in California: Trends, Community Impacts, and Implications for PolicyDates of Activity:
September 1, 2002 to January 31, 2005Amount Awarded:
$300,000This study examines how changes in hospital service mix played a role in influencing the financial viability of California general acute care hospitals between 1995 and 2000.
California Dental Association Foundation
Project Title:
Oral Health and Access to Care in CaliforniaDates of Activity:
May 2006 to May 2007Amount Awarded:
$150,000This study will examine access to care and oral health using the California Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) (1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004). It will also use the Adult 2003 CHIS to look at the demand for and access to adult dental care. This will be a check on the BRFS data and will also yield more variation at the county level to determine regional effects.
Project Title:
An Economic Analysis of the Labor Market for Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants in California: 1997 – 2005Dates of Activity:
September 2005 to November 2005Amount Awarded:
$19,000The professions of dental hygienist and dental assistant are critical to California's oral health care system. Expert opinions differ about whether there is a workforce crisis in these two professions. To inform this discussions, the Petris Center has undertaken an examination for the California labor market for these two professional groups from 1997 to 2005. We address the following questions: Was there a labor shortage of dental hygienists and dental assistants starting around 1999? Is there currently a labor shortage of dental hygienists and dental assistants? This report was jointly funded by the California Dental Association Foundation and the Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America
Project Title:
Uninsured Californians and Access to Prescription DrugsDates of Activity:
February 16, 2005 to June 30, 2005Amount Awarded:
$30,000Recent legislative proposals in California — Senate Bill 19, Assembly Bill 75, the initiative being sponsored by Health Access, as well as other proposed legislation — could have significant impact on prescription drug access for millions of Californians. The study updates the estimates of uninsured populations and their characteristics, and reviews existing programs that are designed to improve their access to prescription medications. This study was supported by The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and The Nicholas C. Petris Center.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation (subaward from Duke University)
Project Title:
An Analysis of the Economic Impact of DiversificationDates of Activity:
August 2003 to May 2004Amount Awarded:
$50,000Attempts to answer a critical question in health economics research: Does diversity pay? The research sought to determine if there exist positive wage differentials for minority physicians who work in predominantly minority communities, controlling for other important wage determinants.
Government Funded Projects
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Project Title:
An Economic and Policy Analysis of ADHD and Stimulant DrugsDates of Activity:
February 8, 2004 to January 31, 2007Amount Awarded:
$902,000This research provides an economic and policy analysis of the variation in psycho-stimulant use for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in children. The main goal of this project is to understand the economic and policy sources of these dramatic variations, based on California data.
Project Title:
NIMH Senior Scientist AwardDates of Activity:
April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2006Amount Awarded:
$568,000The Senior Scientist Award (K05) provides stability of support to outstanding scientists who have demonstrated a sustained, high level of productivity and whose expertise, research accomplishments, and contributions to the field have been and will continue to be critical to the mission of the particular NIH center or institute. The award provides salary support for award periods of up to five years as a means of enhancing the individual recipient's skills and dedication to his/her area of research. The Senior Scientist Award (K05) permits NIH institutes and centers to identify and support exceptionally talented investigators who are well established in their field of research.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (part of a grant to the School of Public Health's Center for Family and Community Health)
University Funded Projects
California Program on Access to Care
Project Title:
Designing Policies to Improve Medical Care for Underserved Minority Populations in CaliforniaDates of Activity:
March 15, 2005 to September 15, 2005Amount Awarded:
$41,800The study focuses on the supply of African-American and Hispanic physicians available to African-American and Hispanic populations. We will begin by describing the problem of racial and ethnic disparities that partially result from differences in the medical care that racial/ethnic minorities receive. We will then present a literature review indicating that the lack of physician-patient racial/ethnic concordance impedes the optimal delivery of medical care to minorities. We will also present evidence that improving racial/ethnic concordance is constrained by the overall shortage of minority physicians.
Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program
Project Title:
Effects of Social Capital on Smoking: Elasticity and PathwaysDates of Activity:
July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007Amount Awarded:
$100,000In working toward the elimination of tobacco use in California, we are proposing a novel approach to reducing smoking behavior. Although research on community social capital (CSC)-the level of participation in civic, social, or religious organizations of individuals within a community-is still in its infant stages, the findings thus far signal that it is an important factor in influencing healthy behaviors and is worth investigating further. In particular, even though the reductions in smoking attributed to social capital may not be as large as the effects for cigarette price augmentations, preliminary work has revealed that social capital may reduce smoking as much as anti-smoking social marketing campaigns. Thus, if the relationship between social capital and smoking can be more thoroughly understood, it may provide policymakers with a powerful new tool to control tobacco use in California.
Center for Health Research
Project Title:
Social Capital, Social Ties, and Mental Health in the USDates of Activity:
2003 to 2004Amount Awarded:
$4100Project Title:
Effects of ADHD Diagnosis & Treatment on Academic PerformanceDates of Activity:
2003 to 2004Amount Awarded:
$4050Center for Child and Youth Policy
Project Title:
Pilot Study for the Economic and Policy Analysis of ADHD and Stimulant Drugs [PDF]Amount Awarded:
$10,0001 Stipulated Order For Modification And Alternative Final Disposition Of Governmental Trust Fund, Case No. 739024, May 28, 1999, Superior Court Of The State Of California, San Francisco.
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Project Title:
Social Capital and Cardiovascular Health in CaliforniaDates of Activity:
September 1, 2002 to September 30, 2004Amount Awarded:
$300,000This study examined the association between community indicators of social capital and cardiovascular disease outcomes using multilevel survival analysis strategies.