Decision analytic and population simulation models are relevant to numerous government agencies to guide policy decisions, forecast future spending, and evaluate existing programs. These models tend to focus on overall costs, revenues and budget limits.
The Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy provides a critical clinical perspective that health economists and health services researchers do not have. We have a long history of conducting cost-effectiveness analysis research in obesity and diabetes that rely on the specialized construction of chronic disease simulation models that incorporate the natural history of diseases.
These analytic methods are a core area of methodological expertise for the Center. As innovations in medicine continue to be produced while health care budgets are constrained, we anticipate an ongoing demand for our methodological expertise. By pursuing both clinical and policy research, the Center is uniquely positioned to help identify areas where health care policies conflict with the care of individual patients. At the same time, it is critical to study the cost-effectiveness of new clinical interventions and to understand their financial consequences for different components of the health system.
Monthly Workshops
The Center hosts a monthly workshop geared toward University of Chicago research professionals interested in methods related to chronic disease modeling and medical decision making. Methods include the application of simulation modeling (Markov Models, Agent-Based Models), as well as the development and study of decision aids and decision support interventions. This is a place for young investigators to share research progress that will be more technical than other traditional workshops.
For more information about the Workshop, or if you would like to attend a Workshop, please contact Mary King (mking@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu).
Upcoming workshops can be found here.