Debra Draper Joins HSC as Director of Site Visits and Senior Researcher

News Release
Aug. 21, 2006

FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alwyn Cassil (202) 264-3484 or acassil@hschange.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Debra A. Draper, Ph.D., M.S.H.A., assistant director of the health care team at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), has joined the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) as director of site visits and senior researcher.

Draper received her doctorate in health services organizations and research from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, where she also earned a master’s degree in health administration. Before joining the GAO, Draper was a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and a consulting researcher for HSC’s site visits. Previously, Draper was a health care consultant and a hospital administrator.

"Debbie’s research and policy expertise, coupled with her real-world experience as a hospital administrator, make her the ideal person to lead HSC’s site visits, which have played a key role in identifying emerging health care trends across the country," said Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of HSC, a nonpartisan policy research organization funded principally by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Draper’s research focuses on private health insurance markets, managed care, Medicaid, Medicare, prescription drugs and other health policy issues. She has published widely on these topics in peer-reviewed journals, including Health Affairs, Health Care Financing Review and the Journal of Health Care Finance. She serves as a peer reviewer for several journals, including Health Affairs and the American Journal of Managed Care, and is a member of AcademyHealth.

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The Center for Studying Health System Change is a nonpartisan policy research organization committed to providing objective and timely research on the nation’s changing health system to help inform policy makers and contribute to better health care policy. HSC, based in Washington, D.C., is funded principally by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is affiliated with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.