Penn Medical Ethics and Health Policy

Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Room 213, 3620 Locust Walk

Policy Seminar: What Does the Fall of ‘Chevron’ Deference Mean for Health Policy?

Learn More 2024-10-16 12:00:00 2024-10-16 13:00:00 America/New_York Policy Seminar: What Does the Fall of ‘Chevron’ Deference Mean for Health Policy? What Does the Fall of ‘Chevron’ Deference Mean for Health Policy? A Conversation with Allison Hoffman, JD, Holly Fernandez-Lynch, JD, MBE, and Kate Shaw, JD, moderated by Julia Hinckley, JD Open to Penn affiliates In Person event October 16, 2024 12:00PM - 1:00Pm ET Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Room 213, 3620 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA In its 2024 term, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old precedent directing federal courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Because Congress often leaves such ambiguity in its laws relevant to health and health care, the Court’s decision is likely to have a substantial impact on health policy. What should we expect now? LDI’s expert panel will unpack that question, explaining the Supreme Court’s modern approach to administrative law and its implications for the work of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other agencies focused on health. Co-hosted with the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Please note: In-person attendance at this event is preferred. Virtual access will be provided to registrants who are unable to be on campus. Speakers Alison Hoffman, JD Professor, Law, Penn Carey Law School Holly Fernandez-Lynch, JD, MBE Associate Professor, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine; Associate Professor, Law, Penn Carey Law School Kate Shaw, JD Professor, Law, Penn Carey Law School Julia Hinckley, JD Director, Policy Strategy, Penn LDI Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Room 213, 3620 Locust Walk Penn Medical Ethics

October

Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom)

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Brain Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Infants HIV-Exposed Uninfected in Botswana" led by Hansel J. Otero, MD, FAAP

Learn More 2024-10-22 12:00:00 2024-10-22 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Brain Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Infants HIV-Exposed Uninfected in Botswana" led by Hansel J. Otero, MD, FAAP Brain Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Infants HIV-Exposed Uninfected in Botswana Hansel J. Otero, MD, FAAP Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Department of Radiology Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Nearly one million infants are born HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) annually worldwide and these infants are at risk for poor neurocognitive and developmental outcomes compared to infants born to persons without HIV. A viable and scalable screening mechanism is urgently needed to identify infants and young children who are HEU and in need of early interventions to reach their full neurocognitive and developmental potential. We piloted the used of basic infant brain ultrasound imaging to assess for structural differences that can identify infants who are HEU and at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. We have now plans to scale up the project to include advanced ultrasound technologies and correlate the findings with magnetic resonance imaging at 1-year of life and assessing for associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes, as measured by the Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool, at 2-years of life in this Botswana-based study. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

October

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Kelly Yang, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University

Learn More 2024-10-24 12:00:00 2024-10-24 13:00:00 America/New_York Health Policy Research Seminar: Kelly Yang, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Event Details: Date: Thursday, October 24th Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Location: 1104 Blockley Hall (Note: Virtual attendees can join by accessing this link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/95353951407.) Topic: "Experience Effects and Technology Adoption: Evidence from Aortic Valve Replacement." Lunch will be served. Please view here for the full Fall 2024/Spring 2025 Health Policy Research Seminar Series Schedule. Bio: Dr. Kelly Kaili Yang is an Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. She received her PhD in Economics from Duke University. Her research interests include Industrial Organization, Health Economics, and International Trade, with a focus on technology adoption and quality upgrading. Abstract: There have been concerted efforts in the medical profession to centralize certain surgical procedures in hopes that patients can benefit from treatment at hospitals with extensive experience or recent practice. In 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced minimum volume requirements that hospitals must satisfy to receive reimbursement for a new surgical procedure, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). I examine the desirability of this regulation and the trade-offs that CMS faces between enhanced learning-by-doing, reduced patient access to hospitals offering TAVR, and fixed adoption costs. Using Medicare claims data, I find that doubling hospital experience reduces TAVR in-hospital mortality by one-sixth. I then develop and estimate a dynamic industry equilibrium model with learning-by-doing, patient choice, and hospital TAVR adoption. Counterfactual simulation shows that removing the policy restriction would have increased adoptions at hospitals that are relatively less desirable to patients. Further, this small access gain would be offset by reduced learning-by-doing and higher mortality. Overall, relative to the free-adoption counterfactual, the current Medicare policy achieves the same technology utilization and total consumer welfare with 13% lower fixed costs, thus improving social welfare. 1104 Blockley Hall Penn Medical Ethics

November

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: Ashwin Nathan, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Penn

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November

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources", led by Elizabeth Fenton, PhD

Learn More 2024-11-12 12:00:00 2024-11-12 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources", led by Elizabeth Fenton, PhD Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources Elizabeth Fenton, PhD Senior Lecturer Bioethics Center University of Otago This talk reports and discusses the results from a small study conducted in New Zealand examining the ethical acceptability of a reserve bed system (RBS) to advance equity in the allocation of limited intenstive care unit (ICU) resources during a public health emergency. The RBS proposes that a proportion of ICU beds is set aside or ring-fenced for certain priority or protected groups, such as minority racial and ethnic populations, who might otherwise be disadvantaged in accessing ICU care. We interviewed ICU clinicians, nurses, and policy makers to understand whether a RBS would be ethically acceptable to them working in a New Zealand context, where significant health inequities between indigenous Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders persist. Lunch provided for in person participants. Streaming available via Zoom. Penn Medical Ethics

November

Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom)

Hybrid -Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Covid-19 Lessons Learned from an FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Vantagepoint" - Paul A. Offit, MD

Learn More 2024-11-13 12:00:00 2024-11-13 13:00:00 America/New_York Hybrid -Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Covid-19 Lessons Learned from an FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Vantagepoint" - Paul A. Offit, MD Covid-19 Lessons Learned from an FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Vantagepoint Paul A. Offit, MD Director of the Vaccine Education Center Professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Paul A. Offit, MD, is Director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Offit is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of virology and immunology, and was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, and a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation and the Foundation for Vaccine Research, a member of the Institute of Medicine and co-editor of the foremost vaccine text, Vaccines. During this talk, Dr. Offit will discuss what went well and what went wrong during the Covid-19 pandemic from an FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee vantagepoint. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

November

Colonial Penn Center Auditorium, 3641 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA

HP/LDI Research Seminar: Edward Okeke, PhD, MD, Senior Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Learn More 2024-11-14 12:00:00 2024-11-14 13:00:00 America/New_York HP/LDI Research Seminar: Edward Okeke, PhD, MD, Senior Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School Research Seminar with Edward Okeke, MD, PhD Making Bricks from Straw: Resources and Productivity in Health Care Register Why do health facilities in developing countries do so poorly? This paper examines the role of financial constraints. I describe an experiment in which we surprised health workers in randomly selected public-sector health clinics in Nigeria with a $1600 grant paid out in installments over one year. Its administration was left entirely to health workers. I show that the award led to large productivity gains. Using expenditure data combined with novel textual data I provide an explanation for these effects. I show that the award increased investments in physical and human capital, led to lower prices for patients, and inspired health workers to do better. Edward Okeke, MD, PhD is a senior economist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He is an applied microeconomist and a physician with training in public health. His research lies at the intersection of health and development. Specific areas of interest include the returns to health care in the formal sector, adoption of preventive health technologies, investments in health and human capital, and maternal and infant health. Much of Okeke’s work is in sub-Saharan Africa, but he also works in South Asia and Latin America. Co-hosted with the Leaonard David Institute of Health Economics. Please note: In-person attendance at this event is preferred. Virtual access will be provided to registrants who are unable to be on campus. Colonial Penn Center Auditorium, 3641 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA Penn Medical Ethics

December

Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom)

Hybrid - Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Decentralized Trials" - Effy Vayena

Learn More 2024-12-11 12:00:00 2024-12-11 13:00:00 America/New_York Hybrid - Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Decentralized Trials" - Effy Vayena Decentralized Trials Effy Vayena Professor of Bioethics the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Effy Vayena is a Professor of Bioethics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) and renowned expert at the intersection of medicine, data, and ethics. Her work focuses on important societal issues of data and technology as they relate to scientific progress and how it is or should be applied to public and personal health. Vayena is a leading expert in the dynamic and diverse field of health data and ethics, successfully leveraging her academic work and international network to promote a fruitful debate about the ethics of health in the digital age. She has previously worked with the Wellcome Trust, OECD, Commonwealth Fund, Chatham House, and academic institutions and governments around the world. More detail to follow. Lunch provided. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: RCH B102AB, Richards Bldg., 3700 Hamilton Walk (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

December

1104 Blockley Hall

Health Policy Research Seminar: David McMillon, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Emory University

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February

1104 Blockley Hall

HP/LDI Research Seminar: Bocar Bo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Duke University

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ASBH 2024

Harsha Thirumurthy appointed as next Division Chief of Health Policy

Emily Largent appointed next Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics

Penn panel on "Legal Models for Psychedelics: Ethical, Clinical, and Practical Implications"

Podcast Episode: Do IRBs do more good than harm?

Policy Seminar: What Does the Fall of ‘Chevron’ Deference Mean for Health Policy?

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Brain Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Infants HIV-Exposed Uninfected in Botswana" led by Hansel J. Otero, MD, FAAP

Health Policy Research Seminar: Kelly Yang, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University

Health Policy Research Seminar: Ashwin Nathan, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Penn

Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources", led by Elizabeth Fenton, PhD

Hybrid -Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Covid-19 Lessons Learned from an FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee Vantagepoint" - Paul A. Offit, MD

HP/LDI Research Seminar: Edward Okeke, PhD, MD, Senior Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Hybrid - Research Ethics and Policy Series (REPS): "Decentralized Trials" - Effy Vayena

Health Policy Research Seminar: David McMillon, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Emory University

HP/LDI Research Seminar: Bocar Bo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Duke University