Harkness Project Title: An Analysis of the Goals, Reforms and Performance of the Veterans Health Administration
Mentors: Sherry Glied, Ph.D., and Lawrence Brown, Ph.D.
Placement: Columbia University, School of Public Health
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Adam Oliver, Ph.D., a 2005-06 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, has been at the London School of Economics since 2001, where he is currently lecturer in health economics and policy in the Department of Social Policy, and senior research fellow and deputy director of LSE Health and Social Care, one of the largest research institutes in the health-related social sciences in Europe. He is a 1995–97 Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbusho) Research Scholar, founding chair of the Health Equity Network, founding coordinator of the Preference Elicitation Group, and a former coordinator of the European Health Policy Group. He is also founding co-editor of the journal, Health Economics, Policy and Law. Oliver has published widely in the areas of health equity, economic evaluation, risk and uncertainty, and the economics and policy of European health care reform. His current principal research interests focus on the interface between economics and political science in health care policy analysis. Oliver holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Newcastle and a master of science in health economics from the University of York.
Project: Adam Oliver sought to examine how the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) – the largest integrated public sector health care system in the U.S. – transformed from what was widely considered a poorly performing system into one that outperforms the rest of U.S. health care. He relied on a mix of different types of evidence, including previously published research, data from official sources, interviews, and feedback and comments from experts in the field.
Current Position: Reader (Associate Professor) in Health Economics and Policy, LSE Health, London School of Economics (Updated 10/2014)
E-mail: [email protected]
Selected Publications
Oliver, Adam. Should behavioural economic policy be anti-regulatory? Health economics 2013; 22 (4).
Oliver, Adam. Perspectives on the importance of interdisciplinarity Health economics, policy and law 2013; 8 (03).
Oliver, Adam. The US Supreme Court decision on the constitutional legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act Health economics, policy and law 2013; 8 (1).
Oliver, Adam. Reflecting on the UK government's health and social care act 2012: introduction Health economics, policy and law 2013; 8 (2).
Oliver, Adam. A normative perspective on discounting health outcomes Journal of health services research & policy 2013; 18 (3).
Oliver, Adam. From nudging to budging: using behavioural economics to inform public sector policy Journal of social policy 2013, 42 (4).
Oliver, Adam. Testing procedural invariance in the context of health Health economics 2013; 22 (3).
Oliver, Adam. Introduction: health economics, policy and law (2012), 7 (4) Health economics, policy and law 2012; 7 (4). 383-384.
Oliver, Adam. The folly of cross-country ranking exercises Health economics, policy and law 2012; 7 (01). 15-17.
Oliver, Adam. A nudge too far? a nudge at all? on paying people to be healthy Healthcare papers 2012; , 12 (4). 8-16.
Oliver, Adam and Brown, Lawrence D. A consideration of user financial incentives to address health inequalities Journal of health politics, policy and law 2012; 37 (2). 201-226.
Oliver, Adam. Is nudge an effective public health strategy to tackle obesity?: yes British medical journal 2011; 342.
Oliver, Adam. It’s time to change the default for organ donation – people should have to opt out British Politics and Policy at LSE (7 Jul 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam. New policy experiments using nudges have the potential to make a significant contribution to energy conservation British Politics and Policy at LSE (29 Jul 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam. Nudge, behavioural economics and public policy: a new theme for British Politics and Policy at LSE British Politics and Policy at LSE (1 Jul 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam. Public and private decision makers should place due attention to the likelihood that high risk high reward options will fail. British Politics and Policy at LSE (24 Aug 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam. The evidence shows that nudge effects disappear when incentives are short term; ‘deposit contracts’ may provide the answer to changing people’s behaviour British Politics and Policy at LSE (22 Jul 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam. How far did the UK government over-respond to the 2009 threat of swine flu? British Politics and Policy at LSE (18 Oct 2011) Blog entry
Oliver, Adam and Brown, Lawrence D. Incentivizing professionals and patients: a consideration in the context of the United Kingdom and the United States Journal of health politics, policy and law 2011; 36 (1). 59-87.
Oliver, Adam. Reflections on the development of health inequalities policy in England Health care analysis 2010; 18 (4). 402-420.
Oliver, Adam and Cookson, Richard. Analysing risk attitudes to time Health economics 2010; 19 (6). 644-655.
Oliver, Adam. Can financial incentives improve health equity? BMJ 2009; 339. b3847-b3847.
Oliver, Adam (2009) England In: Rapoport, John and Jacobs, Philip and Jonsson, Egon, (eds.) Cost containment and efficiency in national health systems. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 41-62.
Oliver, Adam and Marteau, Theresa M. and Ashcroft, Richard E. Can financial carrots improve health? Journal of health services research & policy 2009; 14 (1). 1-2.
Marteau, Theresa M. and Oliver, Adam and Ashcroft, Richard E. Changing behaviour through state intervention: when does an acceptable nudge become an unacceptable shove? British medical journal 2009; 337 (a2543). 121-122.
Oliver, Adam and Sorenson, Corinna (2009) The limits and challenges to the economic evaluation of health technologies In: Costa-i-Font, Joan and Courbage, Christophe and McGuire, Alistair, (eds.) The economics of new health technologies: incentives, organization, and financing. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 205-218.
Marteau, Theresa M. and Ashcroft, Richard E. and Oliver, Adam. Using financial incentives to achieve healthy behaviour British medical journal 2009; 338 (apr09 ). b1415-b1415.
Sorenson, Corinna and Oliver, Adam (2009) The limitations and challenges to the economic evaluation of health technologies In: Costa-i-Font, Joan and Courbage, Christophe and McGuire, Alistair, (eds.) The economics of new health technologies: incentives, organization, and financing. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 205-216.
Oliver, Adam. A fair test of the fair innings? Medical decision making 2009; 29 (4). 491-499.
Oliver, Adam. An explorative study of "preferred" health care decision rules LSE Health working papers, 14/2009. LSE Health, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Oliver, Adam. The single-payer option: a reconsideration Journal of health politics, policy and law 2009; 34 (4). 509-530.
Oliver, Adam and Sorenson, Corinn. On equity in the English National Health Service Harvard health policy review 2008; 8 (2). 100-107.
Ashcroft, Richard E. and Marteau, Theresa M. and Oliver, Adam, Incentive mechanisms require deeper understanding British medical journal 2008; 337 (a1135). 311.
Oliver, Adam. Assessing the influence of gestalt-type characteristics on preferences over lifetime health profiles Medical decision making 2008; 28 (5). 723-731.
Oliver, Adam. Book review: the other invisible hand: delivering public service through competition and choice, by J. Le Grand Journal of social policy 2008; 37 (4). 714-716.
Oliver, Adam and Sorenson, Corinna. Importance of preference reversals in the valuation of health and healthcare Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research 2008, 8 (2). 95-99.
McDaid, David and Oliver, Adam. A comparative analysis of health system reform across England and Scotland Intereconomics 2008, 43 (4).
Oliver, Adam. Reflections on the development of health inequalities policy in the United Kingdom LSE Health working papers, 11/2008. LSE Health, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Oliver, Adam. Public-sector health-care reforms that work?: a case study of the US Veterans Health Administration The lancet 2008; 371 (9619). 1211-1213.
Oliver, Adam. Combining leadership and incentives to improve health care: the case of the Veterans Health Administration Health papers 2008 Oxford Policy Institute, Oxford, UK.
Oliver A. “Public-sector Health-care Reforms That Work? A Case Study of the US Veterans Health Administration,” The Lancet 2008; 371(9619): 1211-1213.
Oliver A. “The Veterans Health Administration: An American Success Story?” The Milbank Quarterly 2007; 85(1):5–35.
Oliver, Adam. Book review: laws of fear: beyond the Precautionary Principle, edited by Cass R. Sunstein Economics and philosophy 2007; 23 (3). 395-401.
Oliver, Adam. Inconsistent objectives – reflections on some selective health care policy developments in Europe Health economics, policy and law 2007; 2 (1). 93-106.
Oliver, Adam. A qualitative analysis of the lottery equivalents method Economics and philosophy 2007; 23 (2). 185-204.
Oliver, Adam. Health policy developments: reforms and effects of reforms Europe Journal of management & marketing in healthcare 2007; 1 (1). 73-79.
Oliver, Adam. Book review: happiness: lessons from a new science, by Richard Layard Economics and philosophy 2006, 22 (2). 299-307.
Oliver, Adam. On the lottery equivalents method: a response to Spencer et al. Health economics 2006, 15 (3). 323-325.
Oliver, Adam and Mossialos, Elias. Editorial Health economics, policy and law 2006; 1 (1). 1-2.
Oliver, Adam. Further evidence of preference reversals: choice, valuation and ranking over distributions of life expectancy Journal of health economics 2006; 25 (5). 803-820.
Oliver, Adam, ed. Personal histories in health research The Nuffield Trust, London, UK, 2005.
Oliver, Adam Healthy lives: reflecting on the reflections In: Oliver, Adam, (ed.) Personal histories in health research. The Nuffield Trust, London, UK, 1-12, 2005.
Oliver, Adam The English National Health Service: 1979-2005 Health economics 2005; 14 (S1). S75-S100.
McDaid, David and Oliver, Adam. Inequalities in health: international patterns and trends In: Scriven, Angela and Garman, Sebastian, (eds.) Promoting health: global perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.
Oliver, Adam and Evans, J. G. The paradox of promoting choice in a collectivist system Journal of medical ethics 2005; 31 (4). 187.
Oliver, Adam Testing the internal consistency of the lottery equivalents method using health outcomes Health economics 2005; 14 (2). 149-159.
Oliver, Adam and Mossialos, Elias and Maynard, A The contestable nature of health policy analysis Health economics 2005; 14 (S1). S3 -S6.
Oliver, Adam and Maynard, A and Mossialos, Elias Analysing the impact of health system changes in the EU member states Health economics 2005; 14 (S1).
Oliver, Adam and Mossialos, Elias European health systems reforms: looking backward to see forward? Journal of health politics, policy and law 2005; 30 (1-2). 7-28.
Oliver, Adam Book review: disability adjusted life years (DALYs) for decision-making?: an overview of the literature, by Julia A. Fox-Rushby Public health 2005; 119 (2). 155
Oliver, Adam and Mossialos, Elias and Maynard, Alan Special issue: "Analysing the impact of health system changes in the EU member states" Health economics 2005; 14 (S1).
Mossialos, Elias and Oliver, Adam Pharmaceutical regulation in four European countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom [special issue of journal] International journal of health care planning and management 2005; 20 (4).
Oliver, Adam and Mossialos, Elias and Wilsford, David Special issue: "Legacies and latitude in European health policy" Journal of health politics, policy and law 2005; 30 (1-2).
Oliver, Adam The core NHS Principles: where art thou? British journal of health care management 2005; 11 (3). 77-80.
Mossialos, Elias and Oliver, Adam An overview of pharmaceutical policy in four countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom International journal of health planning and management, 2005 20 (4). 291-306.