Archived News
Announcing the 2008 Petris Symposium!
The Annual Petris Symposium, "California Health Care Reform — Progress and Prognosis" will take place on Friday, April 18, 2008 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM at the Berkeley City Club. Event registration is now open. You may now download the program agenda, or view it on the Events page.
[Back To Top]2007 Petris Symposium:Implementing Health Reforms in California
On Friday, May 4, 2007, the Petris Center hosted the 2007 Petris Symposium: Implementing Health Reforms in California at the Clark Kerr Campus of UC Berkeley. View the event agenda, participant biographies, or photos.
[Back To Top]New UC Berkeley Study Finds ADHD Medication Use Has Soared Internationally
The use of psycho-stimulant drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has more than tripled around the world since 1993, challenging widespread assumptions that this neuro-developmental disorder is exclusive to the United States, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.
Full Press Release [Back To Top]Petris Center Researchers Publish Dental Shortages Article in the Journal of the American Dental Association
The January 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) is highlighted by the inclusion of "How do we measure shortages of dental hygienists and dental assistants?: Evidence from California: 1997-2005". This article, authored by Timothy Brown, PhD, Associate Director of Research at the Petris Center, AHRQ post-doctoral trainee Tracy Finlayson, PhD, and the Center Director Richard Scheffler, PhD, examines the Californian labor market for dentists and dental hygienists over a period of eight years and uses economic indicators to determine whether or not there was a shortage.
AbstractFull Article
PDF (from the JADA website) [Back To Top]
Petris and Duke University Medical Center Researchers Publish Article in Health Services Research
Health Services Research includes a new online article, soon to be published in print: "Does the Market Value Racial and Ethnic Concordance in Physician–Patient Relationships?" by Timothy Brown, PhD, Associate Director of Research at the Petris Center and the Center Director Richard Scheffler, PhD, along with Sarah E. Tom of UC Berkeley's Department of Demography and Kevin A. Schulman of Duke University Medical Center. The article attempts to determine if the market-determined earnings per hour of physicians is sensitive to the degree of area–level racial/ethnic concordance (ALREC) in the local physician labor market.
Full Article via the Health Services Research website [Back To Top]Article on Consumer-Driven Health Plans Published in Business Economics
The July 2006 issue of Business Economics includes the article "Consumer-Driven Health Plans: New Developments and the Long Road Ahead" by Center Director Richard Scheffler, PhD and Research Associate Mistique Felton, MPH. It reviews new legislation covering plans arising from the continued rise in US healthcare spending and the growing number of uninsured Californians, analyzing the penetration of such plans in the marketplace and predicting their growth. The impact of these plans on vulnerable populations, as well as suggestions on how they may help to improve the functioning of the healthcare market, is also discussed.
Full Article [PDF] [Back To Top]2006 Petris Symposium: Toward a Health Policy Agenda for All Californians
On April 21st, the Petris Center hosted a half-day symposium that focused on current health policy issues affecting Californians. The symposium featured keynote addresses by Kimberly Belshé, MA, Secretary of California's Health and Human Services Agency, and Paul Ginsburg, PhD, President of Washington, DC's Center for Studying Health System Change, as well as panels on the impact of the Mental Health Services Act on California's mental health system, and the economics and policy of stem cell research. The symposium's proceedings, briefing papers on the panel topics, and photographs can be viewed on its Events page.
[Back To Top]Petris Center Researchers Publish Article in Health Services Research
Timothy Brown, PhD, Associate Director of Research at the Petris Center, along with researchers Janet Coffman, PhD and Brian Quinn, PhD, Center Director Richard Scheffler, PhD, and affiliated faculty member Douglas Schwalm, PhD have published an article in April's Health Services Research entitled, "Do Physicians Always Flee from HMOs? New Results Using Dynamic Panel Estimation Methods." The article assesses the impact of changes in relative health maintenance organization (HMO) penetration on changes in the physician-to-population ratio in California counties.
Full Article via the Health Services Research website [Back To Top]Petris Center Receives $100,000 to Study Social Capital and Smoking
The University of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program has awarded the Petris Center $100,000 to conduct a two year study on how community social capital (CSC) influences individual smoking behavior. CSC is a concept originally developed from sociology and political science, and represents the level of participation in civic, social, or religious organizations within a community. The Petris Center has applied the concept in two previous studies, Social Capital and Cardiovascular Disease in California, and Community Social Capital and Mental Health in California. In this study CSC is hypothesized to affect health through three possible pathways: 1) political processes that bring health-promoting resources to the community, 2) likelihood of access to social & psychological support, and 3) diffusion of information & attitudes about smoking.
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