PhD, 1973, Economics, University of Chicago

MBA, 1968, Hospital Administration, University of Chicago

BA, 1965, Mathematics, Pomona College

Charles E. Phelps, PhD

Provost

Professor of Political Science, Economics, and Community and Preventive Medicine

Contact Information:

University of Rochester
Community & Preventive Medicine
601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 644
Rochester, NY 14642

Email: charles.phelps@rochester.edu

Research:

Professor Phelps studies the economics of health care in a variety of ways, ranging from studies of demand for medical care and health insurance to "micro" studies of cost-effectiveness of individual medical interventions. His most recent research studies the economic foundations of cost-effectiveness analysis, the economics of medical practice variations (and the diffusion of information in the health sector), and finally, the origins and purposes of not for profit organizations.

Professor Phelps has studied various economic aspects of the health care system for over a third of a century, including studies of the demand for health care (including participating in the RAND Health Insurance Study), demand for health insurance, and market forces in health care delivery. More recent work has emphasized three aspects of the health care system. First is a set of studies on the uses of cost-effectiveness methods in health care evaluation, including studies of the economic foundations of cost-effectiveness techniques and also applications in the evaluation of specific medical interventions (including, among others, MRI for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, IV gamma globulin for Kawasaki's Syndrome, screening for hemochromatosis, staging diagnostic techniques for patients presenting with chest pain, and proper uses of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity, among others). Second come a series of studies of medical practice variations, both at a regional level (for single treatments) and in individual medical practices (aggregating across numerous treatments). This work has extended into wider studies on the diffusion of information in health care. Most recently, his studies have sought to understand why not for profit organizations exist in general, and when they dominate a market (such as in hospitals in the US and elsewhere), share a market (such as nursing homes), or are virtually absent (such as in the production and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs). Professor Phelps has published a leading textbook in the field (Health Economics, Addison-Wesley, 2003, Third Edition), which has also been translated into French and Chinese. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1991, and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) from 1997 –2006, the last three years as Chair of the Board. He has served since 2002 on the Report Review Committee of the National Research Council, the primary quality control mechanism for the National Academies (NAS, NAE and IOM).

www.rochester.edu/provost/bio.html

• Phelps, CE. Health Economics. Third Edition. Reading, MS: Addison-Wesley Press. 2003.
• Curtis, LH, Phelps, CE, McDermott, MP, and Rubin, HR. The Value of Patient Reported Health Status in Predicting Short Term Outcomes in Patients after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery. Medical Care, 40: 1090-1100, 2002.
• Phelps, CE. Information Diffusion and Best Practice Adoption. In Culyer, AJ, and Newhouse, JP, Eds. Handbook of Health Economics. Volume 1A. North-Holland Press, 2000.
• Garber, AM, and Phelps, CE. The Economic Foundations of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. Journal of Health Economics. 16:1-31, 1997.
• Phelps, CE. Good Technologies Gone Bad: Why and How the Cost Effectiveness of Various Medical Interventions Changes for Different Populations. Medical Decision Making, 17:107-112, 1997.