Tianyan Hu's Homepage

Research Statement

Research Statement(PDF).

Publications

  1. Mary E. Deily, Tianyan Hu, Sabrina Terrizzi, Shin-Yi Chou and Chad Meyerhoefer, "Network Externalities and the Impact of Health Information Technology: Evidence from Pregnancy Outcomes in Pennsylvania", Health Services Research, published online June 28, 2012, doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2012.01441.x. (Download here).
  2. Jesse M. Pines, Sandra L. Decker and Tianyan Hu, "Exogenous Predictors of National Performance Measures for Emergency Department Crowding", Annals of Emergency Medicine, published online May 25, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2012.01.024. (Download here).

Research Papers

  1. Tianyan Hu, Sandra L. Decker and Shin-Yi Chou, "Medicare Part D, Physician Prescribing and Drug Utilization: A Difference-In-Discontinuity Approach" (Job Market Paper/The Second Chapter Of Dissertation) (pdf coming soon).

    Abstract
    In January 2006, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 introduced a new prescription drug benefit through Medicare Part D, therefore lowering the fraction of prescription drug costs that many Medicare beneficiaries had to pay out-of-pocket at the point of service. This change may have led physicians to prescribe more drugs to Medicare patients beginning in 2006 if physicians consider costs to patients when deciding on treatment plans. This change may also have led to changes in expenditures on other medical care services, and eventually, patients' health outcomes. This paper uses data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the National Inpatient Sample from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (NIS-HCUP) 2002-2004 and 2006-2009 to test whether outcomes changed in 2006 for patients aged 65-69 compared to patients aged 60-64. We adopt and improve an empirical strategy called a difference-in-discontinuity approach by estimating the discrete jump in outcomes at 65 years old for the sample after 2006 compared to discrete jump before 2006. We estimate a 33% increase in the number of prescription drugs prescribed and a 55% increase in the number of generic drugs prescribed following policy implementation. We also find the existence of anticipatory effects for prescribing patterns just before the adoption of Part D policy. We do not find evidence that Part D resulted in significant changes in health status or in total medical expenditures or expenditures for inpatient, outpatient, or emergency room services for elderly patients after 2006.

  2. Tianyan Hu, Shin-Yi Chou and Mary E. Deily, "Pregnancy Outcomes for Medicaid Patients in Mandatory Managed Care: The Pennsylvania HealthChoices Program", submitted to Journal of Health Economics, October 2012 (The First Chapter Of Dissertation).

    Abstract
    A number of states have adopted mandatory managed care to provide health services to Medicaid patients, raising concerns that the care provided may be of lower quality than care provided under traditional fee-for-service arrangements. In this paper we use Pennsylvania’s staggered adoption of mandatory managed care for its Medicaid enrollees to study the effect of its implementation on health care and outcomes for pregnant Medicaid patients. Using difference-in-difference and difference-in-difference-in-difference methods, and mother fixed effects, we find evidence that the adoption of managed care resulted in fewer preventable complications, more C-sections for more severely-ill mothers and, eventually, lower costs.

Papers in Progress

  1. "Impact of Medicaid P4P Programs on the Utilization of Preventive Care", with Sandra L. Decker and Shin-Yi Chou (The Third Chapter Of Dissertation).
  2. "The Benefits of Prenatal Care: Evidence from the SARS Epidemic in Taiwan", with Hsienming Lien, Shin-Yi Chou and Rhea Bhatta.
  3. "Medicare Part D and Incentives for Generic Drug Applications".