Harkness Project Title: Health Services Use and Health Disparities: A U.S.-Canada Comparative Analysis
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Jean-Marie Berthelot, a 2004–05 Canadian Associate of The Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy, is senior researcher and head of the Health Analysis and Measurement Group (HAMG) at Statistics Canada. In this role, he has conducted policy-relevant research in health economics, population health and health services research for more than a decade. Most recently, he and colleagues responded to the needs identified in the First Ministers' Accords by developing health indicators for health status and access to health care services. Berthelot has authored and co-authored many papers on the determinants of health, both at the individual and population level. He is principal investigator of a 10-year mortality follow-up using Canadian census data that examines disparities between regions and between socio-economic groups, and principal investigator for the Population Health Impact of Disease in Canada, a collaborative initiative with the Public Health Agency of Canada and university researchers. In 2001, he led the conceptualization, implementation and dissemination of the Health Services Access Survey, the first Canadian survey to collect information on barriers to care, waiting times for specialized services and acceptability of waiting for care. Currently, he is involved with the analysis of the 2003 Joint Canada/U.S. Survey on Health, which includes a comprehensive section on health services. He is also working on the development of a Health Care Outcome Measurement Project for surgical procedures in Canada and on simulation models for heart disease, diabetes and arthritis, with a specific focus on obesity as a risk factor for these conditions. In 2001, he received McMaster University's Labelle Lectureship in Health Services Research. Berthelot is a member of Statistics Canada's steering committee on analysis and research and the Task Group on Health Disparities of the Advisory Committee on Population Health and Health Security of the Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health.
Project: Berthelot’s project compared the health status and health care use of Canadians and Americans to gain a better understanding of how health status is affected by the performance of the two different systems. He used self-reported data from the 2003 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health, including 5,183 U.S. and 3,505 Canadian adults. The analysis focused on differences in health care utilization between the two countries – particularly regards to the effect of insurance coverage – and socioeconomic disparities.
Career activity since Fellowship:
- Vice President of Programs, Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2006-2013
Contact Information: [email protected]
Selected Publications:
Sanmartin C, Berthelot J-M, Ng E, Murphy K, Blackwell DL, Gentleman J, Martinez M, Simile C. "Comparing Health And Health Care Use In Canada And The United States," Health Affairs 2006 25(4): 1133-1142.