Daniel Polsky is the 40th Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at Johns Hopkins University. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Carey Business School. From 1996-2016 he was on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the Robert D. Eilers Professor the Wharton School and the Perelman School of Medicine. From 2012-2019 he served as executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics. Dr. Polsky, a national leader in the field of health policy and economics, has dedicated his career to exploring how health care is organized, managed, financed, and delivered, especially for low-income people. His own research has advanced our understanding of the cost and quality tradeoff of interventions whether they are changes to large federal programs or local programs. His most recent work focuses on how to provide access to quality health care in low-resource settings with a particular interest in narrow provider networks.
Education
- Ph. D, Economics, University of Pennsylvania
- MPP, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
- BS, Economics, University of Michigan
Research
Selected publication
- Polsky D. Richards M. Basseyn S. Wissoker D. Kenney GM. Zuckerman S. Rhodes KV. Appointment Availability after Increases in Medicaid Payments for Primary Care. N Engl J Med 2015; 372:537-
- Polsky D, Cidav C, Swanson A: Marketplace Plans with Narrow Physician Networks Feature Lower Monthly Premiums Than Plans with Larger Networks. Health Affairs October 2016.
- Polsky D, Candon M, Chatterjee P, Chen X: Scope of Primary Care Physicians' Participation in The Health Insurance Marketplaces. Health Affairs 37(8): 1252-1256, August 2018.
- Polsky D, Candon M, Saloner B: Changes in Primary Care Access Between 2012 and 2016 for New Patients with Medicaid and Private Coverage. JAMA Internal Medicine 177(4): 588-590, April 2017.
- Polsky D, David G, Yang J, Kinosian B, Werner R: The Effect of Entry Regulation in the Health Care Sector: the Case of Home Health. Journal of Public Economics 110: 1, February 2014.
- Polsky D, Kletke PR, Wozniak GD, Escarce JJ: HMO penetration and the geographic mobility of practicing physicians. Journal of Health Economics 19(5): 793-809, Sep 2000.
- Konetzka T, Werner R, Polsky D: Shipping Out Instead of Shaping Up: Rehospitalization from Nursing Homes as an Unintended Effect of Public Reporting. Journal of Health Economics 32(2): 341-352, 2012.
- Werner RM, Norton EC, Konetzka RT, Polsky D: Do consumers respond to publicly reported quality information? Evidence from nursing homes. Journal of Health Economics 31: 50-61, 2012.
Teaching
Current
- Foundations of Business of Health
- The U.S. Health Care System: Past, Present, and Future
Honors and distinctions
- Member of National Academy of Medicine
- Associate Editor, Health Economics
Editorial Board, Health Services Research and Medical Care Research and Review
Impact and engagement
Policy
- Panel of Health Advisers, Congressional Budget Office, 2013 – Present
- Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Washington, DC, 2007-2008
Community
- Board member, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Health and Medicine Committee
- Board member, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
