NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago mourns the loss of Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D., a distinguished member of our Board of Trustees since 2005 and a renowned health economist and policy expert. Her career spanned decades of public service, and she brought invaluable expertise and insight to our organization. As a senior fellow at Project HOPE, Gail dedicated her work to analyzing and improving health care systems. Her expertise in Medicare, Medicaid, and military health care was shaped by her tenure as administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and as a senior advisor to President George H.W. Bush. Dr. Wilensky's contributions extended to various advisory roles, including chairing the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Physician Payment Review Commission. Her insights were frequently sought by Congressional committees and international audiences alike. Gail’s bipartisan approach, which allowed her to develop and advocate for policies that transcended political divides, was in perfect alignment with NORC's identity and mission of providing objective, nonpartisan research to inform public policy. Her deep understanding of health care economics and reform strategies and her ability to bridge research and policy enhanced the rigor and relevance of our work and helped us advance our health policy research initiatives. We extend our deepest condolences to Gail's family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. Her noteworthy achievements and dedication to improving health care will always be remembered and celebrated.

NEW: We are pleased to share the 2nd Annual Report from NORC’s independent evaluation of the CMS Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) Model (now, the ACO REACH model) for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services . This evaluation focuses on CMS’s investment in accountable care organizations (ACOs) and ongoing testing of ACOs and other approaches to care-delivery transformation within the Medicare program. Read the report and learn more about NORC’s work on this project: https://lnkd.in/eXhi3HPw

It was an honor to join the North America Rare Disease Summit today and present NORC's recent research on the prevalence of sickle cell disease among individuals with Medicaid and their health care expenditures. I learned so much from the researchers, providers, and advocates I met today. #HealthCareStrategy #NARDS #RareDiseases #SickleCellDisease #NORC

ICYMI: Last week, NORC staff were out at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in full force. Check out the photos below and visit our website to explore about their posters, presentations, and more! #ARM24 https://lnkd.in/eUKZ6ire

The #GSSNORC team is in Portugal this week attending the European Social Survey international conference! The team led a great presentation titled “The US General Social Survey and European Social Survey: A Methodological and Operational Comparison”. 

“When I was in college, I always knew about the GSS. Imagine you are a young kid going out and seeing the moon and hoping that one day you could take a spaceship and get up there. It was a dream all those years...and here I am serving as director now of the GSS.” In the return of the #EquityCorps video series, The General Social Survey director René Bautista, Ph.D. talks to Michelle M Johns, PhD, MPH from NORC’s Center on Equity Research about what it means to him to lead one of the largest longitudinal surveys on the attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of the American public. Watch the video to see the whole interview!

Very excited for this talk, where I’ll be sharing some research about supporting loved ones (especially romantic partners) recovering from eating disorders. An excellent lineup!

At the 2024 Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) meeting, Alex Kresovich highlighted our team's groundbreaking work on opioid-related content on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 🔍Our research offers pivotal insights into how these platforms influence public opinion and dialogue around the opioid crisis. Using CrowdTangle, we collected data from Facebook and Instagram posts related to the opioid epidemic in the US, spanning from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. We focused on the top 0.5% of posts with the highest engagement, analyzing 1,267 key posts. Key Findings: 🚓 Law enforcement narratives dominated the conversation, with frequent mentions of fentanyl and heroin. 💔 Discussions on opioid treatments and harm reduction were notably sparse. ⚖️ Partisan differences were evident: right-leaning accounts blamed drug dealers and government policies, often using sensationalist language. 💬 Celebrity overdose news, though rare, generated high engagement. 📰 Local news posts focused heavily on criminality and police action, often mirroring police press releases. 📊 Our research reveals a shift towards a criminal justice lens in public discourse around the opioid crisis. Right-leaning narratives are more prevalent, with limited criticism of pharmaceutical companies or healthcare providers. The emphasis on celebrity overdoses and police narratives highlights significant societal influences on public perception. Opportunities Ahead: 💡Public health entities can leverage these insights to promote evidence-based information and foster constructive conversations. 🤝By collaborating with influential social media accounts and law enforcement, we can help reshape the narrative and tackle the opioid crisis more effectively. #OpioidCrisis #PublicHealth #SocialMediaResearch #JCOIN2024 #EvidenceBasedPolicy #HealthCommunication

Another post of a fantastic NORC at the University of Chicago colleague presenting at #ARM24. This is Sammy Augenbraun, MPH presenting important findings from research on hospital-community partnerships in rural America. Thank you for your great contribution, Sammy!