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Research Overview

Dr. Galbraith’s research focuses on the effects of insurance policy on health and health care for vulnerable populations of children and families.  She has done studies examining health care decision making, utilization, and experiences for families in high-deductible health plans and health insurance exchange plans.  Her current research extends this work to study patient and provider responses to other new insurance strategies such as tiered network plans and price transparency tools.  Other work includes studies of health care quality for children with asthma and adolescents transitioning to adult providers.

Active Projects

2013-2014 Patient and Provider Response to Tiered Network Plans

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation Research Grant
Principal Investigator

tier primary care providers; 2) evaluate whether non-preferred tier providers show differential improvement in cost and quality metrics over time relative to providers in the preferred tier; and 3) explore how clinicians and practice administrators respond to tiered network plans.

2014 Engaging Health Plan Members as Advisers for Patient-Centered Research

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation Faculty Grant
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-P.I. Jason Block)

The objectives of this project are to: 1) explore how the Harvard Pilgrim Listens program can be adapted to create an ongoing system to create member/patient engagement panels for research projects; 2) explore strategies  for actively involving members from diverse  backgrounds as research collaborators and understand member views about participating as research collaborators; and 3) use findings from Aims 1 and 2 to pilot test the member/patient engagement process for upcoming PCORI applications to study a price transparency tool and health plan wellness programs.

Research Background

Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH is a general pediatrician who practices at the Children’s Hospital Primary Care Center and is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.  She is the Associate Director of the Center for Child Health Care Studies in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.  Dr. Galbraith received her MD at the University of Rochester and her MPH at the University of Washington, where she completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship.  

Learn more about Dr. Galbraith:  Department of Population Medicine

Selected Publications

  1. Galbraith AA, McAninch-Dake B, Semura J, Anderson N, Christakis DA. Emergency department use and perceived delay in accessing illness care among children with Medicaid. Ambul Pediatr. 2004;4:509-13
  2. Galbraith AA, Grossman DC, Koepsell TD, Heagerty PJ, Christakis, DA. Medicaid acceptance and availability of timely follow-up for newborns with Medicaid. Pediatrics. 2005;116:1148-1154.
  3. Galbraith AA, Wong SW, Kim SE, Newacheck PW. Out-of-pocket financial burden for low-income families with children: socioeconomic disparities and effects of insurance. Health Serv Res. 2005;40:1722-36.
  4. Galbraith AA, Seura J, McAninch-Dake B, Anderson N, Christakis DA. Language Disparities and Timely Care for Children in Managed Care Medicaid. Am J Manag Care. 2008;14:417-426.
  5. Galbraith AA, Ross-Degnan D, Soumerai S, Miroshnik I, Wharam F, Kleinman K, Lieu, TA. High-deductible health plans: are vulnerable families enrolled? Pediatrics. 2009;123:e589-e594. PMCID: PMC2683628.
  6. Galbraith AA, Smith LA, Bokhour B, Miroshnik IL, Sawicki GS, Glauber JH, Hohman KH, Gay C, Lieu TA. Asthma care quality for children with minority-serving providers. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(1):38-45.
  7. Galbraith AA, Ross-Degnan D, Soumerai SB, Abrams AM, Kleinman K, Rosenthal MB, Wharam F, Adams A,  Miroshnik I, Lieu TA. Use of well-child visits in high deductible health plans. Am J Manag Care. 2010;16(11):833-40. PMCID: PMC3984915.
  8. Galbraith AA, Ross-Degnan D, Soumerai SB, Rosenthal MB, Gay C, Lieu TA. Nearly half of families in high-deductible health plans whose members have chronic conditions face substantial financial burden. Health Aff. 2011;30(2):322-31.
  9. Galbraith AA, Soumerai SB, Ross-Degnan D, Rosenthal MB, Gay C, Lieu TA. Delayed and forgone care for families with chronic conditions in high-deductible health plans. J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(9):1105-1111. PMCID: PMC3514993.
  10. Galbraith AA, Sinaiko AD, Soumerai SB, Ross-Degnan D, Dutta-Linn MM, Lieu TA. Some families who purchased health coverage through the Massachusetts Connector wound up with high financial burdens. Health Aff. 2013;32(5):974-983.

Publications