• Ben Franklin
    • Benjamin Franklin on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania 

    • Scott, Kevin and David on Locust Walk
    • Scott Halpern, Kevin Volpp and David Asch on Locust Walk on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

    • Center for Advanced Medicine
    • Wharton School
    •  Wharton School entrance on Locust Walk

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News All News

Changing the Lung Transplant Waitlist Rule

Source: ABC News, June 10, 2013; CBS News, June 12, 2013

On a 6ABC news segment covering the lung transplant waiting list rule, Scott Halpern offered his thoughts on the…

Penn Medicine Connected Health Symposium

Source: LDI Health Economist, June 5, 2013

The Penn Medicine Center for Innovation along with the Chief Medical Information Officer and Network Development Office convened the recent University of Pennsylvania's first annual…

The Future of Employer Incentive Programs

Source: The Atlantic, June 3, 2013

The Obama administration recently released its final rules on employment-based wellness programs. In an interview with The Atlantic, Kevin Volpp offers that not all incentive…

Effectiveness of the Health Insurance Penalty

Source: American Public Media, April 30, 2013

Under the Affordable Care Act, individuals will have to pay a penalty of $95 or 1% of their income (whichever is higher) for not having health…

Competitive Group Incentives Effective for Weight Loss

Ongoing Research All Research

Evaluating Methods to Use Health Benefits Design to Encourage Employee Weight Loss

Principal Investigators: Kevin Volpp, Mitesh Patel

Employers are increasing looking for opportunities to encourage weight loss among employees. While studies have shown that financial incentives can effectively encourage weight loss, little is known about their use in health benefits design. The goal of this study is to determine whether a financial incentive program for obese University of Pennsylvania Health System employees can effectively encourage weight loss when compared to changes in health benefit design.

Funder: University of Pennsylvania Health System

Testing Behavioral Economic Interventions to Improve Statin Use and Reduce CVD Risk

Principal Investigators: Kevin Volpp, Iwan Barankay, Peter Reese

The application of conceptual approaches from behavioral economics offers considerable promise in advancing health and health care. In patients with suboptimal cholesterol control who are at high risk for CVD, this study will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different behavioral economic techniques to improve statin adherence following discontinuation of the intervention. Investigative team leaders Iwan Barankay, Kevin Volpp and Peter Reese will use a 4-arm randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of alternative approaches to inducing habit formation among CVD patients with poorly controlled cholesterol who have been prescribed statins.

Funded by: NIH/National Institute on Aging

A Rapid Cycle Approach to Improving Medication Adherence Through Incentives and Remote Monitoring for Coronary Artery Disease Patients

Principal Investigators: Kevin Volpp, David Asch

The goal of this project is to improve medication adherence and health outcomes in post-discharge patients who are recovering from acute myocardial infarctions in metropolitan Philadelphia and adjoining areas of New Jersey.  Such patients typically have high rates of poor medication adherence and hospital readmissions and are costly to monitor through intensive case management.  The intervention will increase medication adherence through telemonitoring and a visual and audible “reminder” system. It will also retrain social workers as engagement advisors to monitor adherence, offer incentives, and enlist patient support from family and friends. The anticipated result will be improved health outcomes and lower cost.

Funder: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

Events All Events

CHIBE Work-In-Progress Seminar

Jason Karlawish, MD: "Who wants to join a walking program? Older adults' willingness to get paid to walk more"

EMMI Solutions Presentation

EMMI Solutions is an outcomes-driven patient engagement communications company and we believe patients are the most underutilized resource in healthcare. We leverage technology to empower patients to take action by utilizing language…

Brocher Foundation Obesity Conference

Preventing obesity: Personal responsibility? Social responsibility? Moving beyond polarization in policy, discourse and practice A one-and-a-half day symposium seeks to explore the thesis that the dichotomy of personal versus social responsibility…