Harry H. Liu

Senior Policy Researcher; Affiliate Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Boston Office

Education

Ph.D. in health services research and policy, University of Rochester; M.S. in social medicine and health management, Fudan University; B.Med. in medicine, Shanghai Medical University

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Harry Liu is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty. Trained in medicine and public policy, he has extensive experience using economic and policy analyses to support decisionmaking for both private entities and governments. In prior work, he has evaluated various new technologies, program interventions, and public policies, such as technologies on e-prescribing and medication adherence, employer-sponsored health and wellness programs, innovations in primary care, workers' compensation programs and payment reforms, quality improvement initiatives, and laws and regulations. Liu holds a Ph.D. in health policy from the University of Rochester.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Understanding anchor businesses
Direct care worker retention
Evaluation of a novel medication management program
Evaluation of Medicaid managed care enrollment
Evaluation of workplace wellness programs

Selected Publications

Cohen, C and H Liu, "Potential Synergies Between Workplace Wellness Programs and On-Site Clinics," Population Health Management, 22(6), 2019

Liu H and Zhao S, "Savings Opportunity from Improved CKD Care Management," Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 29(11), 2018

Engberg JB, Harris-Shapiro J, Hines D, McCarver P, Liu H, "The Impact of Worksite Clinics on Teacher Healthcare Utilization and Cost, Self-reported Health Status, and Student Academic Achievement growth in a Public School District," Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(8), 2018

Liu H, Chen C, Hanson M, Chaturvedi R, Mattke S, Hillestad R, Economic Value of Advanced Transfemoral Prosthetics, RAND Corporation (RR-2096-AOPA), 2017

Liu H, Herzig C, Dick A, Furuya Y, Larson E, Reagan J, Pogorzelska-Maziarz M, Stone P, "Impact of State Reporting Laws on Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates in U.S. Adult Intensive Care Units," Health Services Research, 52(3), 2017

Batorsky B, Van Stolk C, Liu H, "Is More Always Better in Designing Workplace Wellness Programs? A Comparison of Wellness Program Components Versus Outcomes," Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 58(10), 2016

Liu H, Mattke S, Predmore ZS, "Medicare Coverage of Anesthesia Services During Screening Colonoscopies for Patients at Low Risk of Sedation-Related Complications," JAMA Internal Medicine, 175(11), 2015

Liu H, Waxman D, Main R, Mattke S, "Trends in Cost and Utilization of Anesthesia Services during Gastroenterology Procedures in 2003-2009," JAMA, 307(11), 2012

Commentary

Why States' 'Netflix Model' Prescription Drug Arrangements Are No Silver Bullet
Despite the buzz and catchy notion that subscription models are “Netflix for drugs,” it's hard to come up with a theoretical case that supports subscription models over traditional price negotiation between payers and manufacturers over a per-dose or per-unit price.
Jul 1, 2020 Health Affairs Blog
Health Insurance Without an Annual Expiration Date? A Case for Exchange-Based Long-Term Policies
Multi-year health plans have the potential to finally align the interests of health plan enrollees and insurers by reaping long-term benefits of patient health management.
Nov 10, 2014 Health Affairs Blog

Publications

Report
Using Claims-Based Estimates of Post-Operative Visits to Revalue Procedures with 10- and 90-Day Global Periods
This report describes how CMS could use new claims-based data on post-operative visits to adjust the valuations of surgical procedures with 10- and 90-day global periods.
Feb 5, 2021
Journal Article
Impact of Primary Care Worksite Health and Wellness Clinics on HbA1c Level Among Prediabetic or Diabetic Employees
This study determined whether the use of worksite health and wellness clinics reduced hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for prediabetic and diabetic employees.
Dec 10, 2020
Report
Mental Health Task-Shifting in Community-Based Organizations: Implementation, Impact, and Cost — Evaluation of the Connections to Care Program
In this report, RAND researchers describe the Connections to Care task-shifting model and their evaluation of how it was implemented, its intended impact on mental health and other outcomes, and how much it costs community-based organizations.
Nov 12, 2020
Report
Subscription Models for Prescription Drugs: The Motivation, Potential, and Limitations of a New Payment Model
The authors argue that, conceptually, the main advantage of subscription models over traditional prescription drug payment arrangements is that they could reduce some sources of uncertainty in spending for payers and in revenue for manufacturers.
May 21, 2020
Report
Evaluation of the Connections to Care (C2C) Initiative: Interim Report
This interim report presents preliminary evaluation findings for New York City's Connections to Care program, which seeks to expand access to mental health support for low-income New Yorkers via a task shifting model.
Nov 29, 2018
Journal Article
The Impact of Worksite Clinics on Teacher Healthcare Utilization and Cost, Self-Reported Health Status, and Student Academic Achievement Growth in a Public School District
Teachers who used school-based health care clinics as the source of primary care were significantly more likely to have fewer inpatient admissions and lower annual health care cost, and were less likely to be absent from work.
Jul 3, 2018
Report
Medical Care Provided to California's Injured Workers: Monitoring System Performance Using Administrative Data
This report provides a framework for understanding changes in medical spending levels and provides the results from RAND's analysis of Workers' Compensation Information System data for 2007--2012.
May 16, 2018
Report
Economic Value of Advanced Transfemoral Prosthetics
RAND researchers developed a simulation model to assess the clinical outcomes and costs of microprocessor-controlled knees compared with more-traditional non-microprocessor-controlled knees.
Sep 5, 2017
Journal Article
Is More Always Better in Designing Workplace Wellness Programs? A Comparison of Wellness Program Components Versus Outcomes
Components individually are related to better outcomes, but this relationship is weaker in the presence of other components and non-significant for incentives.
2016
Journal Article
Impact of State Reporting Laws on Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection Rates in U.S. Adult Intensive Care Units
Rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections were reduced by 66 percent over six years after mandatory state reporting requirements were implemented.
Aug 29, 2016
Journal Article
The Impact of Using Mid-Level Providers in Face-To-Face Primary Care on Health Care Utilization
When working under a physician's supervision, nurse practitioners and physician assistants do not increase utilization and spending.
Aug 25, 2016
Journal Article
Anesthesia Service Use During Outpatient Gastroenterology Procedures Continued to Increase from 2010 to 2013 and Potentially Discretionary Spending Remained High
Previous studies have identified an increasing number of gastroenterology (GI) procedures using anesthesia services to provide sedation, with a majority of these services delivered to low-risk patients. The aim of this study was to update these trends with the most recent years of data.
Jul 19, 2016
Journal Article
Upcoding and Anesthesia Risk in Outpatient Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Procedures
Claims data analysis suggests that physicians may be identifying more patients in the coding system as being at high risk of complications from some outpatient procedures in order to ensure payment for anesthesia services.
May 9, 2016
Report
Avoiding the Tragedy of the Commons in Health Care: Policy Options for Covering High-Cost Cures
In this Perspective, the authors discuss the risk that strategic behavior by health insurers could unravel the market for curative therapies for chronic diseases. They present a framework to analyze policy options to remedy this problem.
May 3, 2016
Report
Medical Device Innovation in the Era of the Affordable Care Act: The End of Sexy
Medical device innovation has traditionally focused on improving performance, with little regard to cost, but new incentives will force device manufacturers to redirect investments from the spectacular toward the prudent: the end of sexy.
Feb 8, 2016
Journal Article
Understanding the Relationship Between Incentive Design and Participation in U.S. Workplace Wellness Programs
We aimed to understand how employer characteristics relate to the use of incentives to promote participation in wellness programs and to explore the relationship between incentive type and participation rates.
Jan 14, 2016
Journal Article
Incentives, Program Configuration, and Employee Uptake of Workplace Wellness Programs
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of wellness program configurations and financial incentives on employee participation rate.
Jan 14, 2016
Journal Article
Does Targeting Higher Health Risk Employees or Increasing Intervention Intensity Yield Savings in a Workplace Wellness Program?
This article aims to test whether a workplace wellness program reduces health care cost for higher risk employees or employees with greater participation.
2015
Journal Article
Medicare Coverage of Anesthesia Services During Screening Colonoscopies for Patients at Low Risk of Sedation-Related Complications
Provide abstract text to pubcat@rand.org alias if you wish to add optional text to this extra tag for this metadata record.
Sep 25, 2015
Journal Article
Central Line–associated Blood Stream Infections in Pediatric Intensive Care Units: Longitudinal Trends and Compliance with Bundle Strategies
Knowing the temporal trend CLABSI rates among U.S. PICUs, the current extent of central line bundle compliance, and the impact of compliance on rates is necessary to understand what has been accomplished and can be improved in CLABSI prevention.
May 21, 2015
Research Brief
Incentives for Workplace Wellness Programs: They Increase Employee Participation, but Building a Better Program Is Just as Effective
Presents information on the landscape of wellness programs, use of incentives, and their effect on participation, drawn from the first study on this topic to be based on national survey data.
May 11, 2015
Report
Workplace Wellness Programs: Services Offered, Participation, and Incentives
This report leverages existing data on wellness programs to explore patterns of wellness program availability, employers' use of incentives, and program participation and utilization among employees.
May 11, 2015
Journal Article
Dementia Care Management in an Underserved Community: The Comparative Effectiveness of Two Different Approaches
Compares the effectiveness and costs of telephone-only approach to in-person plus telephone for delivering an evidence-based, coordinated care management program for dementia.
Feb 19, 2015
Report
Quantitative Evaluation of the Impact of the Healthy Communities Initiative in Cincinnati
In 2009, a Cincinnati group launched the Healthy Communities Initiative with the goals of improving health care and population health while reducing health care costs. In 2012, RAND Health Advisory Services assessed the Initiative's progress.
Oct 10, 2014
Report
The Role of Health Care Transformation for the Chinese Dream: Powering Economic Growth, Promoting a Harmonious Society
RAND researchers recommend that China should create an innovative health care delivery model based on population health management principles and sophisticated health information technology, rather than copy existing Western models.
Aug 29, 2014
Journal Article
The Association of State Legal Mandates for Data Submission of Central Line–associated Bloodstream Infections in Neonatal Intensive Care Units with Process and Outcomes Measures
The authors determine the association between state legal mandates for data submission of central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) with process and outcome measures. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
Aug 22, 2014
Tool
Five Steps to a Successful Workplace Wellness Program: A RAND Toolkit
RAND researchers created a five-step toolkit for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a successful workplace wellness program, based on lessons learned and best practices from multiple projects and extensive research.
Jun 24, 2014
Report
Implementing a Resource-Based Relative Value Scale Fee Schedule for Physician Services: An Assessment of Policy Options for the California Workers' Compensation Program
RAND researchers used 2011 medical data to examine the impact of implementing a resource-based relative value scale to pay for physician services under the California workers' compensation system. This report details their findings.
Apr 28, 2014
Draft
Fee Schedule Options for Services Furnished by Hospitals to Outpatients under the California Workers' Compensation Program
This report presents an analyses of the policy options regarding allowable amounts for certain facility services provided by hospitals on an outpatient basis under California's workers' compensation system.
Feb 7, 2014
Research Brief
Do Workplace Wellness Programs Save Employers Money?
Examines the return on investment (ROI) that companies realize from workplace wellness programs, focusing on the ROI provided by disease management programs versus lifestyle management programs.
Jan 9, 2014
Journal Article
Managing Manifest Diseases, but Not Health Risks, Saved PepsiCo Money Over Seven Years
Workplace wellness programs are increasingly popular. Employers expect them to improve employee health and well-being, lower medical costs, increase productivity, and reduce absenteeism.
2014
Journal Article
Using OSHA Inspection Data to Analyze Respirator Protection Program Compliance
This article uses the OSHA inspection data base to examine all inspections in manufacturing in 47 states from 1999 through 2006 and identifies all inspections and all establishments at which respiratory protection (RP) violations were cited, and it compares the prevalence of violations by industry with the prevalence reported in a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of respirator use.
Dec 1, 2013
Journal Article
Accountable Care Organization Formation Is Associated with Integrated Systems but Not High Medical Spending
We examined where accountable care organizations (ACOs) have formed and what regional factors are predictive of ACO formation.
Oct 1, 2013
Report
CMS Innovation Center Health Care Innovation Awards: Evaluation Plan
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has funded 108 projects implementing new service delivery or payment models intended to deliver lower cost through improving quality of care. This report describes a strategy for evaluating the results.
Aug 15, 2013
Infographic
The Skinny on Workplace Wellness Programs
Workplace wellness programs have become increasingly common in the United States, but what do these programs look like? A 2012 national survey gives us the skinny on typical components, incentives for participation, and levels of employee engagement.
Jul 31, 2013
Report
Workplace Wellness Programs Study: Final Report
The report investigates the characteristics of workplace wellness programs, their prevalence, their impact on employee health and medical cost, facilitators of their success, and the role of incentives in such programs.
May 30, 2013
Journal Article
Do Workplace Wellness Programs Reduce Medical Costs? Evidence from a Fortune 500 Company
The recent passage of the Affordable Care Act has heightened the importance of workplace wellness programs. This paper used administrative data from 2002 to 2007 for PepsiCo's self-insured plan members to evaluate the effect of its wellness program on medical costs and utilization.
May 1, 2013
Journal Article
Long-term Survival and Healthcare Utilization Outcomes Attributable to Sepsis and Pneumonia
Hospital associated infections are major problems, which are increasing in incidence and very costly.
Nov 1, 2012
Report
Provider-Level Risk-Adjusted Quality Measurement for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
Develops risk-adjusted quality metrics at the provider level for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and uses these metrics to estimate national trends in IRF quality from 2004 to 2009.
Jul 31, 2012
Journal Article
Are Geriatricians More Efficient Than Other Physicians at Managing Inpatient Care for Elderly Patients?
Geriatricians were more efficient than other physicians in managing hospitalized elderly adults with medical DRGs frequently managed by geriatricians. This efficiency did not compromise patient outcomes.
May 1, 2012
Research Brief
Eliminating Discretionary Use of Anesthesia Providers During Gastroenterology Procedures Could Generate $1.1 Billion in Savings per Year
The use of dedicated anesthesia providers for routine gastroenterology (GI) procedures is seen as medically justifiable only for high-risk patients. Eliminating these services for low-risk patients could generate $1.1 billion in savings per year.
Mar 20, 2012
Journal Article
Utilization of Anesthesia Services During Outpatient Endoscopies and Colonoscopies and Associated Spending in 2003-2009
The use of dedicated anesthesia providers for routine gastroenterology (GI) procedures is seen as medically justifiable only for high-risk patients. Eliminating these services for low-risk patients could save Medicare $1.1 billion per year.
Mar 1, 2012
Journal Article
Effect of an Employer-Sponsored Health and Wellness Program on Medical Cost and Utilization
PepsiCo's comprehensive health and wellness program increased medical costs for participants in the first year, but reduced costs in the following years.
2013
Journal Article
Evaluation of the NCPDP Structured and Codified Sig Format for E-Prescriptions
This paper reports an assessment of how well the structure and code sets specified in the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Structured and Codified Sig Format represent ambulatory electronic prescriptions.
2011
Journal Article
The Pennsylvania Certified Safety Committee Program: An Evaluation of Participation and Effects on Work Injury Rates
Since 1994, Pennsylvania, has provided a 5% discount on workers' compensation premiums for firms with a certified joint labor-management safety committee. This study found that injury rates at participating firms with good compliance records dropped more than at other firms.
2010
Journal Article
Comparing Costs and Quality of Care at Retail Clinics with That of Other Medical Settings for 3 Common Illnesses
Retail clinics are an increasingly popular source for medical care. Concerns have been raised about the effect of these clinics on the cost, quality, and delivery of preventive care. The authors compare the care received at retail clinics for 3 acute conditions with that received at other care settings. Retail clinics provide less costly treatment than physician offices or urgent care centers for 3 common illnesses, with no apparent adverse effect on quality of care or delivery of preventive care.
Sep 1, 2009
Journal Article
Episode-based Performance Measurement and Payment: Making It a Reality
Proposals to use episodes of care as a basis for payment and performance measurement are largely conceptual at this stage, with little empirical work or experience in applied settings to guide their design.
Sep 1, 2009
Journal Article
Managed Care Quality of Care and Plan Choice in New York SCHIP
Examines whether low-income parents of children enrolled in the New York State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) choose managed care plans with better quality of care.
Jun 1, 2009
Journal Article
Managed Care Quality and Disenrollment in New York SCHIP
Examines whether higher-quality measures in managed care plans are associated with lower disenrollment from the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in New York State.
2009
Draft
The Pennsylvania Certified Safety Committee Program: An Evaluation of Participation and Effects on Work Injury Rates
This evaluation of the voluntary Pennsylvania Certified Safety Committee program found that although compliance did reduce injuries, most participants did not comply and injury rates did not decline more at participating firms.
Sep 18, 2008
Journal Article
Nonprice Competition and Quality of Care in Managed Care: The New York SCHIP Market
Finds a negative association between nonprice competition and quality of care in managed care plans in the New York SCHIP market. Pricing policy is likely a constraint on quality production, though it may not be interpreted as a causal relationship.
Jun 1, 2008
Journal Article
Medicare Capitation Model, Functional Status, and Multiple Comorbidities: Model Accuracy
Examines financial implications of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hierarchical Condition Categories risk-adjustment model on Medicare payments for individuals with comorbid chronic conditions. Some payments were underpredicted.
2008
Journal Article
Accuracy of Medicare Claims Data in Identifying Parkinsonism Cases: Comparison with the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
This study evaluates the accuracy of administrative claims in identifying Parkinsonism cases compared to the self-reported Parkinson's disease (PD).
2007
Journal Article
What Is the Risk of Developing Parkinsonism Following Neuroleptic Use?
Using multivariate models, the authors found that use of antipsychotic medications, age, and disability were strong predictors of developing self-reported Parkinson disease (PD) in the subsequent year among 1992 to 2000 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey participants.
Mar 1, 2006
Journal Article
Economic Burden Associated with Parkinson's Disease on Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries
The authors evaluated medical utilization and economic burden of self-reported Parkinson's disease (PD) on patients and society.
2006