FEATURE STORIES

Many Families are Being Crushed by Energy Bills

Research by Aditi Vasan revealed that 49.2% of U.S. households with children reported energy insecurity, and were more likely to report other household material hardships.

$25 Nearly Doubled Black and Hispanic Enrollment

Alex Fanaroff, Kevin Volpp, Scott Halpern, Alisa Stephens-Shields, and colleagues conducted four sequential trials to test ways to increase representation in clinical trials. 

How Hospitals Can Prevent Patient Text Overload

Kimberly Waddell and Shivan Mehta offered ways hospitals can preserve the effectiveness of text messaging communication with patients. 

Using Reddit as an Early Warning System for Drug Harms

A study by Jeanmarie Perrone found that Reddit posts on tianeptine products, more commonly referred to as ‘gas station heroin,’ rose sharply between 2022 and 2023. 

Hospital Capacity and Racial Disparities in Mortality

Atheendar Venkataramani found that as hospital beds became scarcer, racial discrimination increased, reflected in longer wait times and less provider effort for Black patients. 

EVENT VIDEO RECAP

Consumer-Directed Health Care: Promise or Pitfall

Our virtual seminar brought together 400+ registrants to explore the evidence and policy outlook for consumer-directed health care as a federal solution to expanded coverage, with a focus on affordability, access, and health outcomes. 

UPCOMING EVENT

Access and Affordability in the Age of GLP-1s

Friday, October 23, 2026
12:00–1:00 p.m. ET

A Conversation with Stacie B. Dusetzina, PhD, Benedic N. Ippolito, PhD, MS, and Mark McClellan, MD, PhD.

Virtual event open to the public.

IN THE MEDIA

“NPR Spent 2 Years Tracking Deaths From Heat. We Found a Staggering Hidden Toll.” Sameed Khatana. NPR

“Funding Was Cut to Life-Saving Medical Research Programs in Philly. Rep. Brendan Boyle Demands To Know Why.” Rachel M. Werner. Philadelphia Inquirer

“Nearly 40% of US Inpatient Mental Health Nurses ‘Suffer High Burnout’.” Justinna Dixon. Nursing Times

“Trump Plans to Grow His Way Out of $40 Trillion Debt Crisis—It’s a ‘Fantastic Story’ but Virtually Impossible, Says Top Budget Economist.” Kent Smetters. Fortune

“Nearly One in Four Boarding Patients Waited Four Hours or More Before an Inpatient Team Took Over.” Ari Friedman. Medical Daily

PUBLICATIONS

“SNAP Disruption During a Government Shutdown and Implications for Chronic Disease Self-Management: A Qualitative Study.” Elizabeth Whidden, Nicole Ellingson, Charlotte Babbin, Eliza W. Kinsey, Aaron Richterman. Health Affairs Scholar

“Connecting Risk Prediction to Intervention: Evidence From a Randomized Trial Testing Patient Navigation and Education To Improve Postpartum Outcomes.” Kimberly B. Glazer, Sarah Lindley, Angelina Malenda, Micki Burdick, Oluwadamilola Oshewa, Lisa D. Levine, Jennifer Zeitlin, Teresa Janevic, Elizabeth A. Howell. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology: Maternal-Fetal Medicine

“Role of Social Determinants of Health in Risk Prediction Models for ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Death: A Registry-Based Study.” Elina E. Pliakos, Kaitlyn Shultz, Kriyana P. Reddy, Lauren A. Eberly, Sameed M. Khatana, Alexander C. Fanaroff, Peter W. Groeneveld, Jay Giri, Ashwin S. Nathan. Journal of the American Heart Association

“Patient Portal Use and Care Utilization Among Hospitalized Children.” Michael J. Luke, Yinlu Zhu, Courtney B. Wolk, Stephanie G. Menko, Danielle Capriola, Kate Fuller, Philip V. Scribano, Christopher P. Bonafide, Aditi Vasan. Hospital Pediatrics

“The Landscape of Plasma Proteomic Links to Human Organ Imaging.” Zirui Fan, Julio Chirinos, Xiaochen Yang, Juan Shu, Yujue Li, Joan M. O'Brien, Walter Witschey, Daniel J. Rader, Ruben Gur, Bingxin Zhao. Nature Communications

Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics is a national leader in advancing health policy through transformative research.