Harkness Project Title: Impact of Massachusetts Health Care Reform on Disparities
Placement: Harvard Medical School
Mentor: John Ayanian, Harvard Medical School
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Philip van der Wees, Ph.D., a 2011-12 Dutch Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is manager of the Quality and Implementation Research Program, a joint program of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, the Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy, and Maastricht University. The Program systematically evaluates the implementation of clinical guidelines, and van der Wees currently leads two large projects to assess guideline implementation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and low back pain. He was also recently appointed chair of the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N,), a collaboration of over 30 countries for setting international standards for guideline development and implementation. Previously he was manager of strategy and health policy at the Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy. Van der Wees has authored 18 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, Lancet Neurology, and Journal of Evaluative Clinical Practice, and is co-author of the National Standards for Guideline Development and Implementation, published by the Dutch Council for Quality of Care. He holds a Ph.D. from Maastricht University.
Project: Van der Wees' project aimed to identify trends in health care delivery, health status and racial and ethnic disparities associated with implementation of health reform in Massachusetts. The methods included an interrupted time-series analysis to compare health status and use of ambulatory health care services between Massachusetts and other New England states before and after health care reform. Data was used from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS); primary outcomes of interest were self-reported health, access to care, and use of preventive services.
Current Position: Senior Researcher, Celsus Academy for Sustainable Healthcare and Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen
Email: [email protected]
Selected Publications:
Van der Wees P, Nijhuis-Van Der Sanden M, Ayanian J, Black N, Westert G, Schneider E. “Integrating the use of patient-reported outcomes for both clinical practice and performance measurement: views of experts from 3 countries,” Milbank Quarterly, 2014.
Van der Wees PJ, Nijhuis-van der Sanden M, van Ginneken E, Ayanian JZ, Schneidere EC, and Westert GP. “Governing Healthcare through Performance Measurement in Massachusetts and the Netherlands” Health Policy, 2013.
Ayanian JZ, Van der Wees PJ, Zaslavsky AM. “Improvements in Health Status After Massachusetts Health Care Reform” The Milbank Quarterly, 2013.
Van Ginneken E, Swartz K, Van der Wees P. Health Insurance Exchanges In Switzerland And The Netherlands Offer Five Key Lessons For The Operations Of US Exchanges. Health Affairs 2013; 32(4):744-52
Ayanian JZ, Van der Wees PJ. “Tackling Rising Health Care Costs in Massachusetts,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2012.
Vargas A, Van der Wees P. “How Are We Integrating Immigrants into the U.S. Health System?” Virtual Mentor. 2012.
Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschlager G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. “Guidelines International Network: Toward International Standards for Clinical Practice Guidelines.” Annals of Internal Medicine. 2012.