Project Summary
Background: To effectively support patient-centered health care and health policy, a well-informed and engaged community of researchers specializing in quantitative methodology is needed.
Proposed Solution to the Problem: The International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS) provides a unique forum for the advancement, communication, and dissemination of statistical methods focused on health policy, health care, and health services questions important to patients, clinicians, policy makers, and other stakeholders. We seek support for the 13th ICHPS, to be held January 6–8, 2020 (ICHPS 2020), in San Diego, California.
Objectives: The objective of ICHPS 2020 is to serve as an engaging forum for statisticians, quantitative methodologists, and other stakeholders in health policy to collaborate and exchange ideas and innovations that can be disseminated to the broader community, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes by improving research.
Activities: The conference will bring together 350 participants. The program includes invited sessions, workshops, contributed papers, posters, roundtables, and town halls on topics including patient-centered outcomes analysis, comparative effectiveness, treatment effect heterogeneity, big healthcare data, mobile health data, and opioid and gun policy evaluation. The sessions/workshops will involve leading experts and provide dissemination of patient-centered outcomes research methods. The keynote speakers are Dr. Daniel Polsky (Johns Hopkins University), whose research has been influential in addressing disparities and improving healthcare systems, and Dr. Susan Murphy (Harvard University), who is known for her work applying statistical methods to clinical trials of treatments for chronic medical conditions. The conference will include informal sessions focused on community engagement and a science communication workshop.
Outcomes and Outputs: Selected events will be videotaped for public posting (with participant permission). We will disseminate conference papers through a special journal issue and also disseminate articles accessible to the public. We will provide a lay summary for public posting as well as select materials for open access with presenter permission.
Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: Members of the conference planning committees have worked with a wide range of organizations in the Southern California area, including universities and research centers, health departments, care provider organizations, community groups, and nonprofits. We plan to actively engage these stakeholders and community partners in the conference.
Project Collaborators: The American Statistical Association is the primary institution applying for the award. Project Lead Dr. Catherine Crespi is a professor at The University of California, Los Angeles and ICHPS 2020 Co-chair. Co-chair Dr. Ofer Harel is a professor at the University of Connecticut. The planning committee includes members from academia, government, policy research organizations, nonprofits, industry, and service provider organizations.