Bio: Panos Kanavos, a 2001-02 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, is a lecturer in international health policy and director of the master of science in international health policy program in the Department of Social Policy and Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests include the financing of health services, pharmaceutical policy, the economics of health-related high technology (pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices), and the health problems of economies in transition. He has published widely on health care reform issues, pharmaceutical economics, and policy. Kanavos served as advisor on health care reform and pharmaceutical policy in a variety of Eastern European countries and the Philippines and is a former alternate member of the executive committee of the National Drug Organization of Greece. He has also served as temporary advisor to and has received research grants from the World Health Organization, World Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Commission, and European Parliament.
Placement: Harvard University
Mentors: Stephen Soumerai, Sc.D.
Project: Uptake and Utilization of Statins in the United States: Evidence from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Description: Panos Kanavos explored the predictors of statin use in the U.S. between 1996 and 1998 for both primary and secondary prevention. He also explored how statin use during this period compared with published evidence on good clinical practice. He used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to identify patients who, on the basis of published clinical evidence, would qualify to receive a statin. He also conducted a retrospective multivariate logistic analysis on predictors of statin use, including socioeconomic and clinical factors.