The Section on Health Policy Statistics (HPSS) has included a range of topics associated with health policy research and its applications in its JSM 2010 program. Included are two invited sessions, eight topic-contributed sessions, six contributed sessions, a poster session, three roundtables, and a speaker luncheon. These can be identified on the online JSM program by selecting “Section on Health Policy Statistics” as the sponsor.

Program Highlights
The section’s business meeting and mixer will take place August 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Steamworks Brewing Company (a short stroll from the convention center). The student awards will be presented at the mixer. HPSS members, organizers, speakers, discussants, and friends are invited.

The poster session is scheduled for August 2 at 2:00 p.m.

The HPSS student awards session will be held August 3 at 2:00 p.m.

The speaker luncheon will take place August 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. It will feature Ruth Etzioni, biostatistics and health services professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington.

Invited Sessions

August 2

Statistical Methods for Assessing Generalizability, 2:00 p.m., organized by Elizabeth Stuart of The Johns Hopkins University

August 4

Room at the Health Care Policy Table: A Case for the Inclusion of Statisticians in These Data-Centric Decisions, 8:30 a.m., organized by Brenda Crowe and Matt Rotelli of Eli Lilly and Company

Topic-Contributed Sessions

August 1

Social Network Analysis: Methods and Examples, 4:00 p.m., organized by Sowmya Rao of MGH Biostatistics Center

August 2

New Ideas for Matched Analysis in Observational Studies, 10:30 a.m., organized by Bo Lu of The Ohio State University

Innovative Methods for Cost and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, 2:00 p.m., organized by Douglas Schaubel of the University of Michigan

August 3

Methodological Issues in Measuring and Estimating Health Care Use, 8:30 a.m., organized by Steven Machlin of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Innovations in Substance Use Data Analysis: Marginal Structural Models, Multilevel Models, and Latent Class Analysis, 8:30 a.m., organized by Susan Paddock of RAND Corporation

HPSS Student Paper Awards, 2:00 p.m.

August 4

Issues in Measuring Health Disparities, 10:30 a.m., organized by Makram Talih of CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College

August 5

Biomarker Evaluation and ROC Analysis, 8:30 a.m., organized by Nan Hu of the University of Utah

Contributed Sessions

August 1

Applications in Health Policy: Substance Abuse, Nutrition, and Employment, 2:00 p.m.

August 3

Risk Adjustment and Causal Inference for Randomized and Nonrandomized Studies in Health Policy, 10:30 a.m.

Survey Methodology and Latent Variable Modeling, with Application to Health Policy, 10:30 a.m.

August 4

Random Effects Modeling in Health Policy Research: Methods and Applications, 8:30 a.m.

Modeling Health Care Costs and Survival Outcomes: Methods and Applications, 2:00 p.m.

August 5

Quality of Life Measurement and Categorical Modeling of Health Policy Outcomes, 10:30 a.m.

Speaker Luncheon and Roundtables

A large part of our program takes place over food. Our speaker luncheon is the social high point for HPSS. A.M. and P.M. roundtables are a great way to learn about new topics while meeting other section members with similar interests. Be sure to register before JSM or soon after arrival. Luncheon and roundtable tickets must be purchased at least 24 hours in advance, and they do sell out.

The speaker luncheon, which costs $40, will take place August 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. The title of the talk is “A Statistician at the Policy Table: Integrating Modeling in the Development of Public Health Guidelines.” It will be given by Ruth Etzioni, biostatistics and health services professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington.

“Issues of Data Capacity and Statistical Quality to Support Health Care Modeling and Microsimulation Efforts,” a P.M. roundtable scheduled for August 2 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m., will be led by Steve Cohen of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

There will be two A.M. roundtables on August 3 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. “Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the PROMIS Item Banks and Short-Form Instruments” will be led by Laura Lee Johnson of the National Institutes for Health and “Reliability and Misclassification in Physician Profiling” will be led by John L. Adams of RAND Corporation.