Austin B. Frakt, PhD
Research Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management - Boston University School of Public Health
Biography
Austin Frakt, Ph.D., is a Health Economist and Director of the Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center at the Boston VA Healthcare System. He is also a Professor of Health Law, Policy & Management with the Boston University School of Public Health and a Senior Research Scientist with the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Frakt is Editor-in-Chief of Health Services Research and serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Managed Care.
He is also an Editor-in-Chief and a primary author of the evidence-based health policy blog The Incidental Economist, a regular contributor on health policy topics to The New York Times’ The Upshot, and has been a contributor to the JAMA Health Forum.
Dr. Frakt has conducted research studies funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. His work has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Milbank Quarterly, Health Care Financing Review, Health Affairs, Health Economics, Health Services Research, International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, among other journals.
Dr. Frakt received his Ph.D. from the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in statistical and applied mathematics. He also received a master’s degree from MIT, and his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Applied and Engineering Physics.
Other Positions
- Visiting Associate Professor - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Education
- 1999 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD Field of Study: Electrical Engineering
- 1994 - Cornell University, BS
- 1996 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SM/ScM Field of Study: Electrical Engineering
Publications
- Published on 4/1/2021
Bindman AB, Frakt A. From the Editors' desk: Publishing in HSR. Health Serv Res. 2021 Apr; 56(2):173-174. PMID: 33730764.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 3/26/2021
Lin MY, Hanchate AD, Frakt AB, Burgess JF, Carey K. Do accountable care organizations differ according to physician-hospital integration?: A retrospective observational study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Mar 26; 100(12):e25231. PMID: 33761713.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 11/21/2020
Feyman Y, Pizer SD, Frakt AB. The persistence of medicare advantage spillovers in the post-Affordable Care Act era. Health Econ. 2021 Feb; 30(2):311-327. PMID: 33219715.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 11/17/2020
Shafer P, Frakt AB. To Truly Build the Affordable Care Act Into Universal Coverage, More Creativity Is Needed. JAMA. 2020 Nov 17; 324(19):1931-1932. PMID: 33201194.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 11/3/2020
Minegishi T, Garrido MM, Stein M, Oliva EM, Frakt AB. Opioid Discontinuation Among Patients Receiving High-Dose Long-Term Opioid Therapy in the Veterans Health Administration. J Gen Intern Med. 2020 12; 35(Suppl 3):903-909. PMID: 33145683.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 10/1/2020
Nikpay S, Pungarcher I, Frakt A. An Economic Perspective on the Affordable Care Act: Expectations and Reality. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2020 10 01; 45(5):889-904. PMID: 32589202.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 9/2/2020
Figueroa JF, Wadhera RK, Frakt AB, Fonarow GC, Heidenreich PA, Xu H, Lytle B, DeVore AD, Matsouaka R, Yancy CW, Bhatt DL, Joynt Maddox KE. Quality of Care and Outcomes Among Medicare Advantage vs Fee-for-Service Medicare Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure. JAMA Cardiol. 2020 Sep 02. PMID: 32876650.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 8/21/2020
Yee CA, Pizer SD, Frakt A. Medicare's Bundled Payment Initiatives for Hospital-Initiated Episodes: Evidence and Evolution. Milbank Q. 2020 09; 98(3):908-974. PMID: 32820837.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 8/11/2020
Pearson E, Frakt A. Health Care Cost Growth Benchmarks in 5 States. JAMA. 2020 Aug 11; 324(6):537-538. PMID: 32780131.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 8/10/2020
Frakt AB, Jha AK, Glied S. Pivoting from decomposing correlates to developing solutions: An evidence-based agenda to address drivers of health. Health Serv Res. 2020 10; 55 Suppl 2:781-786. PMID: 32776528.
Read At: PubMed
View 143 more publications:View Full Profile at BUMC
News & In the Media
- Published on April 20, 2021
- Published on March 18, 2021
- Published on February 11, 2021
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Published on February 11, 2021
What Can Be Learned from Differing Rates of Suicide among Groups
- Published on December 3, 2020
- Published on December 3, 2020
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Published on December 3, 2020
The Shift to Telemedicine May Improve Emergency Health Care.
- Published on December 2, 2020
- Published on October 28, 2020
- Published on August 26, 2020
- Published on August 5, 2020
- Published on July 13, 2020
- Published on July 6, 2020
- Published on July 6, 2020
- Published on May 12, 2020
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Published on April 23, 2020
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Leave Its Mark on US Health Care
- Published on April 17, 2020
- Published on April 15, 2020
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Published on April 6, 2020
These Two Coronavirus Maps Provide a Terrifying Glimpse of What’s Coming
- Published on March 26, 2020
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Published on March 12, 2020
Alcoholics Anonymous vs. Other Approaches: The Evidence Is Now In
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Published on March 6, 2020
What Economists Would Change — and Keep — about the US Health Care System
- Published on March 4, 2020
- Published on February 20, 2020
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Published on February 19, 2020
The History behind Black Men’s Poor Health Outcomes, and What We Can Do to Close the Gap
- Published on February 18, 2020
- Published on February 6, 2020
- Published on February 5, 2020
- Published on February 3, 2020
- Published on January 16, 2020
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Published on January 16, 2020
Morning Break: Opioid Distributor Quits; Why Isn’t Concierge Catching On?
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Published on January 10, 2020
Reduce Health Costs by Nurturing the Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints
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Published on January 10, 2020
Promising Idea to Cut Health-Care Costs Fizzles in Major Study
- Published on January 10, 2020
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Published on January 9, 2020
Reduce Health Costs by Nurturing the Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints
- Published on January 2, 2020
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Published on December 9, 2019
We Beat Sleep Apnea. It Should Be Easier for You to Do It, Too.
- Published on December 6, 2019
- Published on December 4, 2019
- Published on December 4, 2019
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Published on November 27, 2019
Racial Disparities in Pain Prescriptions Kept Thousands of Black Patients Alive
- Published on November 26, 2019
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Published on November 26, 2019
A ‘Rare Case Where Racial Biases’ Protected African-Americans
- Published on November 26, 2019
- Published on November 21, 2019
- Published on November 21, 2019
- Published on October 23, 2019
- Published on October 16, 2019
- Published on October 16, 2019
- Published on October 11, 2019
- Published on October 9, 2019
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Published on October 8, 2019
Column: Trump Runs Dry on Healthcare Ideas, Promotes Wellness Programs Known to Be Useless
- Published on September 26, 2019
- Published on September 4, 2019
- Published on September 4, 2019
- Published on September 4, 2019
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Published on August 8, 2019
Myth Diagnosis: Do Hospitals Charge More to Make Up for Low Government Pay?
- Published on August 6, 2019
- Published on July 29, 2019
- Published on July 16, 2019
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Published on July 11, 2019
Even Researchers Don’t Know Which Doctors Medicare Advantage Covers
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Published on July 11, 2019
Google Search More Accurate than Medicare Advantage Directories, Study Finds
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Published on July 1, 2019
Debunking Medical Myths All in a Day’s Work for IU’s Dr. Aaron Carroll
- Published on June 27, 2019
- Published on June 12, 2019
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Published on June 7, 2019
Keeping Hospital Market Competitive Is an Uphill Battle for FTC
- Published on June 3, 2019
- Published on June 3, 2019
- Published on June 3, 2019
- Published on May 7, 2019
- Published on May 7, 2019
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Published on April 15, 2019
Healing Your Feet, and Finding a Balance in Following Doctor’s Orders
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Published on April 12, 2019
Brainstorm Health: Universal Health Care vs. Innovation, Addyi Alcohol Risk, Ohio Abortion Bill
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Published on April 11, 2019
Why Some Health System Merger Plans Work Out But Others Are Nixed and Why You Should Care
- Published on April 10, 2019
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Published on April 4, 2019
What Role Should Physicians Play in Healthcare’s Move Toward Price Transparency?
- Published on April 1, 2019
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Published on March 22, 2019
Betsy McCaughey: With Medicare for All, ‘Doctors Will Avoid Seniors like the Plague’
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Published on March 18, 2019
When Email Comes to the Doctor’s Office, Wait Times Decrease
- Published on March 15, 2019
- Published on March 14, 2019
- Published on March 8, 2019
- Published on March 6, 2019
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Published on March 6, 2019
Does Restricting Prescription Opioids Save Lives in the Long Term?
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Published on March 4, 2019
The Opioid Dilemma: Saving Lives in the Long Run Can Take Lives in the Short Run
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Published on March 1, 2019
Build Your Own ‘Medicare for All’ Plan. Beware: There Are Tough Choices.
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Published on February 28, 2019
Many Seniors Need Hearing Aids. Why Doesn’t Medicare Cover Them?
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Published on February 22, 2019
The Difference Between a ‘Public Option’ and ‘Medicare for All’? Let’s Define Our Terms
- Published on February 12, 2019
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Published on February 11, 2019
Ever Tried Telling a Teen to Stop Juuling? These Experts Have a Tip
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Published on February 7, 2019
Is Employer-Sponsored Insurance Really a Good Deal for Workers?
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Published on February 7, 2019
La salud mundial avanza a pasos agigantados, pero podría ser mejor
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Published on February 4, 2019
Giant Strides in World Health, but It Could Be So Much Better
- Published on January 28, 2019
- Published on January 8, 2019
- Published on January 4, 2019
- Published on January 2, 2019
- Published on January 2, 2019
- Published on December 17, 2018
- Published on December 5, 2018
- Published on December 3, 2018
- Published on December 3, 2018
- Published on December 3, 2018
- Published on December 3, 2018
- Published on November 15, 2018
- Published on November 13, 2018
- Published on November 8, 2018
- Published on October 31, 2018
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Published on October 31, 2018
With Trump Administration Rollbacks, Drilling Rigs Alter Western Landscapes
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Published on October 19, 2018
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Republicans’ Preexisting Political Problem
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Published on October 12, 2018
How a CVS-Aetna Merger Might Actually Put Money in Your Pocket
- Published on October 3, 2018
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Published on September 13, 2018
Although We’re Running Low on Doctors, the Solution May Not Be More Doctors
- Published on September 5, 2018
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Published on August 31, 2018
A Little-Known Windfall for Some Hospitals, Now Facing Big Cuts
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Published on August 14, 2018
The Large Hidden Costs of Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program
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Published on August 6, 2018
ACA Policy Changes, Economic Factors Influence Use of VA Services
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Published on July 30, 2018
Shopping for Health Care Simply Doesn’t Work. So What Might?
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Published on July 18, 2018
The Astonishingly High Administrative Costs of U.S. Health Care
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Published on July 18, 2018
Evidence to Support ‘Breakthrough’ Drugs Often Very Limited: Study
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Published on July 18, 2018
Drugs Approved More Quickly Have Less Robust Clinical Trials
- Published on July 11, 2018
- Published on July 11, 2018
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Published on June 25, 2018
America Has a Health Care Gap, and Insurance Alone Won’t Fix It
- Published on June 13, 2018
- Published on June 12, 2018
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Published on June 4, 2018
Reagan, Deregulation and America’s Exceptional Rise in Health Care Costs
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Published on June 4, 2018
The Next Great American Public Health Campaign? Readers Make Their Picks
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Published on May 29, 2018
It Saves Lives. It Can Save Money. So Why Aren’t We Spending More on Public Health?
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Published on May 28, 2018
We Need a Cure for Runaway Drug Prices — But Not the One Trump Is Prescribing
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Published on May 21, 2018
Solving the Mystery of American Health Spending after 1980, Part 1: Out-of-Pocket Spending
- Published on May 17, 2018
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Published on May 16, 2018
Medical Mystery: Something Happened to US Health Spending after 1980
- Published on May 10, 2018
- Published on April 30, 2018
- Published on April 30, 2018
- Published on April 16, 2018
- Published on April 2, 2018
- Published on March 21, 2018
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Published on March 19, 2018
Medicare Doesn’t Equal Dental Care. That Can Be a Big Problem