Palo Alto Medical Foundation Names Research Institute Director; Internationally Renowned UCSF Health Economist Harold S. 'Hal' Luft, Ph.D., Will Join PAMF in late June.

Byline: Palo Alto Medical Foundation

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) has named Harold S. "Hal" Luft, Ph.D. - Professor of Health Policy and Health Economics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and an internationally renowned health economist - as Director of its Research Institute.

"Dr. Luft's appointment is a key part of our larger effort to expand the Research Institute's faculty and strengthen its expertise in clinical, health services and health policy research," said David Druker, M.D., President and CEO of PAMF. "Between now and the end of June, he will be actively assisting us in recruitment of additional investigators at senior and junior levels, as well as helping us with other efforts to guide the future direction of the Research Institute. We are truly fortunate to have such an outstanding scholar and leader at the helm of our research activities."

For the last 14 years, Dr. Luft has directed the UCSF School of Medicine's Institute for Health Policy Studies (recently renamed the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies for its founder and PAMF Board member, Dr. Lee). Dr. Luft first joined the UCSF faculty in 1978, and before that, he was an Assistant Professor at Stanford University Medical School for five years. Dr. Luft received his doctorate in economics (specializing in health sector economics and public finance) from Harvard University. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and has served on numerous national health care-research advisory boards and as a former editor-in-chief of the journal Health Services Research.

"We couldn't have found a better candidate to help us transition from a focus on bench research to a focus on how care is delivered to our patients," says Mark McLaughlin, Director of Finance for the Research Institute and Foundation Treasurer. "Because of Dr. Luft's status in the field, we gain a significant advantage in attracting the best and the brightest researchers and research fellows."

A prolific author, Dr. Luft has published four books and more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His latest - due out in October - is "Total Cure: The Antidote to the Health Care Crisis." It focuses on how the American health care system can be reshaped to provide equity, improve quality, and reduce costs. His research has focused on numerous topics, including the relationship between the volume of surgical procedures in a hospital and patient outcomes, the performance of managed care organizations, the competition among health care providers and health plans, ways to assess quality in health care, and methods to compensate for differences in patient risk. At the PAMF Research Institute, he will be continuing these research interests, in part utilizing the strengths of the Foundation's electronic health record, as well as helping PAMF apply research results to improve its patient care.

"Because I've known and admired the work of PAMF and the PAMF Research Institute for a long time, I'm really looking forward to joining the PAMF family and to starting my new role with the Research Institute," said Dr. Luft.

He will assume his role as Director of the Research Institute on June 23, 2008, after he fulfills his teaching and other obligations at UCSF.

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute was created in 1950 as a center for basic and clinical research. Its mission is to be a center of excellence for biomedical, clinical, health care, and public health research. Current research projects include a $1.2 million federally-funded study of diabetes disease management using Internet communications tools. For more information, visit www.pamf.org/research.

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation for Health Care, Research and Education is a not-for-profit health care organization that is a pioneer in the multispecialty group practice of medicine. PAMF is part of the Sutter Health family of not-for-profit physician organizations and hospitals that share resources and expertise to advance health care quality. Serving more than 100 communities in Northern California, Sutter Health is a regional leader in cardiac care as well as care of women and children, and is a pioneer in advanced patient safety technology. For more information, visit http://www.pamf.org .

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CONTACT: Cynthia Greaves, PAMF Department of Public Affairs, (000)-000-0000, greavec@pamf.org