Patricia M. Danzon

Patricia M. Danzon
  • Celia Moh Professor
  • Professor of Health Care Management

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    204 Colonial Penn Center
    3641 Locust Walk
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: biopharmaceuticals, health care, industrial organization, insurance, liability, medical malpractice

Links: CV

Overview

Patricia Danzon is the Celia Moh Professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Danzon received a B.A. from Oxford University, England, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. She has held faculty positions at Duke University and the University of Chicago.

Professor Danzon is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of economics of health care, the biopharmaceutical industry, and insurance.  She is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Social Insurance, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She has served as a consultant to many governmental agencies, NGOs and private corporations in the US and internationally. Professor Danzon has served on the Board of Directors of Medarex, Inc., the Policy and Global Affairs Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Policy Board of the Office of Health Economics in London.

Professor Danzon has been an Associate Editor of the American Economic Review, the Journal of Health Economics and the International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics. She has published widely in scholarly journals on a broad range of subjects related to health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, insurance, and the economics of law.  She co-edited the Handbook on the Economics of the Biopharmaceutical Industry (2012), for Oxford University Press. Selected publications include: “Exits from Vaccine Markets in the US: The Role of Competition vs. Regulation” (with N. Pereira), International J. of the Economics of Business 2011; “Setting Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds As A Means To Achieve Appropriate Drug Prices In Rich And Poor Countries” (with A. Towse and A. Mulcahy)  Health Affairs 2011; “Drug Pricing and Value in Oncology” (with E. Taylor) The Oncologist 2010; “Productivity in Pharmaceutical-Biotechnology R&D: The Role of Experience and Alliances” (with S.Nicholson and N.Pereira) J. of Health Economics 2005; “Biotech-Pharma Alliances as a Signal of Asset and Firm Quality” (with S. Nicholson and J. McCulloch, J. of Business 2005.

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Research

Teaching

Past Courses

  • ECON039 - ECON & FINCING-HLTHCR DL

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

  • HCMG202 - ECON & FINCING-HLTHCR DL

    The course provides an application of economic models to demand, supply, and their interaction in the medical economy. Influences on demand, especially health status, insurance coverage, and income will be analyzed. Physician decisions on the pricing and form of their own services, and on the advice they offer about other services, will be considered. Competition in medical care markets, especially for hospital services, will be studied. Special emphasis will be placed on government as demander of medical care services. Changes in Medicare and regulation of managed care are among the public policy issues to be addressed. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, permission of instructor required.

  • HCMG204 - COMPARATIVE HC SYSTEMS

    This course examines the structure of health care systems in different countries, focusing on financing, reimbursement, delivery systems and adoption of new technologies. We study the relative roles of private sector and public sector insurance and providers, and the effect of system design on cost, quality, efficiency and equity of medical services. Some issues we address are normative: Which systems and which public/private sector mixes are better at achieving efficiency and equity? Other issues are positive: How do these different systems deal with tough choices, such as decisions about new technologies? Our main focus is on the systems in four large, prototypical OECD countries--Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom--and then look at other countries with interesting systems- including Italy, Chile, Singapore, Brazil, China and India. We draw lessons for the U.S. from foreign experience and vice versa.

  • HCMG215 - MGMT&ECONOFPHARMA,BIOTEC

    This course provides an overview of the management, economic and policy issues facing the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The course perspective is global, but with emphasis on the U.S. as the largest and and most profitable market. Critical issues we will examine include: R&D intensive cost structure and rapid technological change; biotech startups and alliances with the pharma industry; pricing and promotion in a complex global marketplace where customers include governments and insurers, as well as physicians, pharmacists and consumers. We use Wharton and industry experts from various disciplines to address these issues.

  • HCMG849 - FIN MGMT HEALTH INST

    This course focuses on health care organizations' financing and financial decisions in the changing health care landscape. The course involves case analyses and lectures, including presentations by practitioners with extensive real-world experience. Students seeking careers in health care with minimal finance background will obtain a solid introduction to key areas of health care finance and financial decision making. Students with more background will extend and enhance their analytical skills in a variety of important areas.

  • HCMG859 - COMPARATIVE HC SYSTEMS

    This course examines the structure of health care systems in different countries, focusing on financing, reimbursement, delivery systems and adoption of new technologies. We study the relative roles of private sector and public sector insurance and providers, and the effect of system design on cost, quality, efficiency and equity of medical services. Some issues we address are normative: Which systems and which public/private sector mixes are better at achieving efficiency and equity? Other issues are positive: How do these different systems deal with the tough choices, such as decisions about new technologies? Our focus first on the systems in four large, prototypical OECD countries- Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom -and then look at other developed and emerging countries with interesting systems - including Italy, Chile, Singapore, Brazil, China and India. We will draw lessons for the U.S. from foreign experience and vice versa.

  • HCMG863 - MGMT&ECONOFPHARM&BIOTECH

    This course provides an overview of the management, economic and policy issues facing the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The course perspective is global, but with emphasis on the U.S. as the largest and most profitable market. Critical issues we will examine include: R&D intensive cost structure with regulation and rapid technological change; strategic challenges of biotech startups; pricing and promotion in a complex global marketplace where customers include governments and insurers, as well as physicians and consumers; intense and evolving M&A, joint ventures, and complex alliances; government regulation of all aspects of business including market access, pricing, promotion, and manufacturing. We use Wharton and industry experts from various disciplines to address these issues.

  • HCMG890 - ADVANCED STUDY PROJECT

    HCMG 890-001: This course examines issues related to the Services Sector of thehealth care industry. For those interested in management, investing, or bankingto the health care industry, the services sector will likely be the largest and most dynamic sector within all of health care. We will study key management issues related to a number of different health care services businesses with a focus on common challenges related to reimbursement, regulatory, margin, growth, and competitive issues. We will look at a number of different businesses and subsectors that may have been unfamiliar to students prior to taking the course. We will make extensive use of outside speakers, many of whom will be true industry leaders within different sectors of the health care services industry. Speakers will address the current management issues they face in running their businesses as well as discuss the career decisions and leadership styles that enables them to reach the top of their profession. Students will be asked to develop a plan to both buyout and manage a specific health care services business of their choosing and will present their final plans to a panel of leading Health Care Private Equity investors who will evaluate their analysis. Prerequisites: HCMG 841. Health Care Management MBA majors only Senior healthcare executives and policy leaders will be engaged as guest speakers.

  • HCMG899 - INDEPENDENT STUDY

    Arranged with members of the Faculty of the Health Care Systems Department. For further information contact the Department office, Room 204, Colonial Penn Center, 3641 Locust Walk, 898-6861.

  • HCMG900 - PROSEMINAR IN HE

    This course is intended to provide entering doctoral students with information on the variety of health economics models, methods, topics, and publication outlets valued and used by faculty in the HCMG doctoral program and outside of it. The course has two main parts: the first, to acquaint students with theoretical modeling tools used frequently by health economists. This part of the course involves a number of lectures coupled with students' presentations from the health economics, management and operations research community at Penn on a research method or strategy they have found helpful and they think is important for all doctoral students to know.

  • HCMG901 - PROSEMINAR IN HE

    This course will cover empirical methods used in economics research with an emphasis on applications in health care and public economics. The methods covered include linear regression, matching, panel data models, instumental variables, regression discontinuity, bunching, qualitative and limited dependent variable models, count data, quantile regressions, and duration models. the discussion will be a mix of theory and application, with emphasis on the latter. The readings consist of a blend of classic and recent methodological and empirical papers in economics. Course requirements include several problem sets, paper presentations, an econometric analysis project and a final exam. The course is open to doctoral students from departments other than Health Care Management with permission from the instructor.

Awards and Honors

  • Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, John M. Eisenberg Excellence in Mentorship Award, 2012
  • American Risk and Insurance Association, Award for Outstanding Article, for “Alternative Liability Regimes for Medical Injuries: Evidence from Simulation Analysis,” August, 1995
  • American Association of Risk and Insurance, Award for Outstanding Article, for “Compensation for Occupational Disease: Evaluating the Options,” Journal of Risk and Insurance, June, 1987
  • American Risk and Insurance Association, Elizur Wright Award, for Medical Malpractice: Theory, Evidence and Public Policy, June, 1987

In the News

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Activity

Latest Research

Patricia M. Danzon, “Drug Pricing and Value in Oncology”. In Regulatory and Economic Aspects in Oncology, Recent Results in Cancer Research, edited by Evelyn Walter, (2019), pp. 153-167
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In the News

Is the U.S. Ready for Value-based Pricing of Drugs?

The federal government’s move to switch to value-based pricing of drugs for one category of public health plans could potentially have far-reaching effects, say experts.

Knowledge @ Wharton - 5/18/2016
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