William Weeks
dates de séjour
discipline
Fonction d’origine
Institution d’origine
pays d'origine
projet de recherche
Establishing a program on geographic variation in health services utilization in France
Over the past three years, I have worked with collaborators at Aix Marseille University (AMU) and the Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE) to apply techniques developed at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice (where I work and teach) to the first studies of geographic variation health services utilization in France. We found substantial variation in admission for some elective procedures and for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), higher rates of admission for ACSCs in France than in other countries, and some evidence that for-profit hospitals in France create supplier-induced demand. Concerns about accelerating healthcare costs and healthcare budget shortfalls in France will make the study of variation in healthcare utilization – and identification of opportunities to reduce it – increasingly important to policymakers. I intend to use the Fulbright-Toqueville Distinguished Chair award to help develop capacity to address the problem of variation in health services utilization in France in perpetuity. The award will allow me to work with health economists, health services researchers, and students at AMU and AMSE to conduct research, transfer knowledge, and set the foundation for a permanent academic program on geographic variation in health services utilization in France. At AMU and AMSE, I will help develop that program through conducting research on geographic variation in healthcare utilization in France and teaching AMSE’s PhD and masters level students. This award will have a lasting impact on my career. I plan to contribute to the work conducted in the center we will create for the rest of my career. Being able to commit dedicated time to demonstrate the benefits, effectiveness, and impact of the study of geographic variation in healthcare, while concurrently getting students and faculty excited about the work, is what will create the center. I hope that the work I complete in France will encourage similar work throughout the EU and will provide opportunities to collaborate and share techniques designed to minimize waste, improve outcomes, and improve value in healthcare systems internationally.
biographie
William Weeks studies business and economic aspects of health services delivery, particularly as they relate to value creation from changes to healthcare delivery systems. A professor of Community and Family Medicine and a Professor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine, Weeks teaches courses including “Leveraging data” in the MHCDS program and “Using data to inform decision making” in the online MPH program. In 2015-2016, he was the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in American Studies at Aix-Marseille University, the most prestigious award offered by Fulbright’s Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange, where he studied the French healthcare system. Concurrently a visiting scholar at the Institut d’Études Avanceés Exploratoire Méditerranéen de l’Interdisciplinarité (IMéRA), he used techniques developed at The Dartmouth Institute to examine geographic variation in per-capita admission rates for several elective surgical procedures, for psychiatric admissions, and for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in France. Weeks earned a BS from Whitman College, a MD from the University of Texas, a MBA from Columbia University, and a PhD in economics from Aix-Marseille University.
