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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

How do we achieve affordable, quality health care? Follow the evidence.

By
  • Darshak Sanghavi, MD
In this guest post, Darshak Shavani writes about how a commitment to evidence, and a connection by J-PAL North America, led to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center launching the first ever randomized evaluation of a major federal health insurance program in the...

Texas Tech agreement to abandon race in med school admissions will worsen health disparities

By
A recent agreement between the medical school of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and the Trump administration that forces the school to stop considering race as a factor in its admissions processes is a step backward for improving health care in the United States.

New evidence on stemming low-value prescribing

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Health care policymakers and practitioners are increasingly pointing to overprescribing as a critical issue in the U.S. health care delivery system. Much of the attention has centered on opioids, as years of high prescribing along with other factors have culminated in a crisis. But the picture is...

A reason to be skeptical of workplace wellness programs’ impact

By
Does your workplace provide incentives to attend the gym? Offer support to quit smoking? Mandate completing a health assessment? It seems that everywhere you turn, businesses are investing resources into trying to improve the health of their workers.

J-PAL North America’s US Health Care Delivery Initiative: Six reflections after six years

When I launched the US Health Care Delivery Initiative (HCDI) in 2013, my goal was to bring more rigorous evidence to bear on how to make the US health care system more efficient, effective, and equitable.

Inside an evaluation: The Creating Moves to Opportunity partnership in Seattle and King County

By
  • Jonathan Bigelow
  • Stefanie DeLuca
  • Andria Lazaga
  • Sarah Oppenheimer
  • Kristen Watkins

Policymakers and researchers collaborate to improve education quality in Puerto Rico

By
  • Gustavo Bobonis
  • Nicolás Riveros Medelius
Puerto Rico faces deeply rooted and complex education challenges. We formed a partnership between the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) and academic researchers to study these challenges and promote decision-making based on data, research, and evidence.