Research Library

Price increases are the biggest driver of rising emergency room visit costs across the U.S., according to research led by the Center for Health and Biosciences' Vivian Ho and Sasathorn Tapaneeyakul.

Analyzing insurance claims for BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, the authors found that level I and II trauma center expansion was not associated with increased prices or use of trauma activation fees in the state of Texas. Read the article in JAMA.

Freestanding emergency departments in Texas’ largest cities have not alleviated emergency room congestion or improved patient wait times in nearby hospitals, but they can reduce wait times in smaller communities, conclude the authors of this study.

The policy and regulatory frameworks for hydraulic fracturing in Texas and Spain are examined to determine the possible trade-offs between water security and energy security. Environmental Science & Policy: https://bit.ly/2NMr9WY.

The authors examine adherence to treatment guidelines for colon cancer among elderly patients in Texas.

The author determines that in 2016, freestanding emergency departments in Texas were more likely to be in areas that could yield high profits — i.e., areas with significantly higher household incomes — than in areas of high demand.

Texans are likely to pay more at freestanding emergency departments than at hospital-based emergency departments or urgent care centers, according to a study co-authored by Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics and director of the Center for Health and Biosciences.

About 1 million Texans gained health care coverage due to the Affordable Care Act, according to new research by health policy fellows Vivian Ho and Elena Marks. The new findings published in the American Journal of Public Health examined the effects of the ACA’s Marketplace on Texas residents and determined which population subgroups benefited the most and the least.

Little is known about regional variation in cancer treatment and its determinants. In this publication, authors compare rates of adherence to treatment guidelines for elderly patients across Texas and whether local specialist supply is an important determinant of treatment variation.

Regenerative medicine and stem cell research are exciting new fields. But as the fields progress toward clinical therapies, controversies emerge. Hype surrounding stem cell research has caused an increase in their use in interventions that are not clinically proven. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have a lot of difficulty dealing with cell therapies, which are distinctly different from drugs and medical devices they more commonly approve. To move the field forward, advocates, regulators and scientists need to come together to find new options for stem cell research oversight that protects both the patients and the research field.