Lessons Learned From the Administration of The RAND Health Insurance Experiment

This report summarizes major lessons learned from the administration of the RAND Health Insurance Experiment. The experiment involved the design, administration, and processing of numerous data collection documents, and the management of several substantial subcontracts. This report presents conclusions that can be drawn from this body of operational experience about issues that will face managers of future large, complex, social science research projects and suggests ways by which those issues might best be resolved. Topics covered include general project management (project organization, communications, scheduling, and cost control), data collection and processing, the management of subcontractors, and the administration of the experimental program.