Short Receives Pattishall Research Award from College of Health and Human Development

Press Release - October 27, 2003

(University Park, Pa.) - Dr. Pamela Farley Short, Penn State professor of health policy and administration and director of the Center for Health Care and Policy Research, has received the 2003 Evan. G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award from the College of Health and Human Development.

Dr. Pamela Farley Short

The Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award is given annually by the College to recognize a faculty member for significant scholarly contributions that have led to a major discovery or advance in his or her field. The award was established by the late Evan Pattishall, who served as dean of the former College of Human Development, and his wife Helen ('85, IFS).

Short is recognized as one of the leading experts on the design and analysis of national surveys related to insurance, employment, and health care. Her groundbreaking work has helped shape national policy on healthcare insurance and accessibility and established her as the nation's foremost authority on this topic.

For example, Short was the first researcher to fully describe the concept of the "underinsured," or those who have some insurance coverage but not enough to cover the costs of a catastrophic illness. She and her colleagues also were the first to document the fact that millions of Americans face significant health risks because they are not adequately insured. Her article on transitions in and out of Medicaid and private insurance - "Single Women and the Dynamics of Medicaid" - was recognized by the Association for Health Services Research as its "Article of the Year" in 2000.

More recently, Short started a five-year study that explores the economic and social consequences of surviving cancer, the first study of its size to address these issues. She also has co-led a major national effort to develop valid and useful health plan "report cards," which is a major research priority of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Before joining the Penn State faculty in 1997, Short was a senior economist and director of the Center for the Study of Employee Health Benefits for RAND, a private research think tank. Pam also was a staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisors under President Clinton and served on the Clinton Health Reform Task Force. Before that, she was a deputy director for the Division of Medical Expenditure Studies at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, where she helped direct the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey.

Since coming to Penn State, Short has generated nearly $3 million in new grants, made presentations at nearly 20 meetings and published two dozen articles in the most highly respected publications in her field. In addition to serving as the director of the Center for Health Care and Policy Research, Pam also serves as professor-in-charge of graduate programs for the Department of Health Policy and Administration.

Short received her bachelor's degree with highest honors in economics from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

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Editors: Dr. Short can be reached at (814) 863-8786 or PamShort@psu.edu. For additional information, please contact Bill Hessert, director of college relations for the College of Health and Human Development, at (814) 863-4325 or swh4@psu.edu.