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Hugh Waters
Hugh Waters Health Care Economist at Independent Consultant

Hugh Waters is a highly accomplished and respected health economist with a impressive background in health financing and economic evaluation. With a Ph.D. in Public Health Economics from the prestigious Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an M.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University, Waters has a strong educational foundation.

In terms of expertise, Waters is well-versed in health care payment methods and their effects, economic evaluation of public health initiatives, and measuring the impact of health insurance reforms. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, with 45 articles to his name, and has worked closely with private health insurers and Medicaid programs in several states. Waters has conducted economic evaluations and Activity-Based Costing in various healthcare settings, demonstrating his versatility and effectiveness in carrying out economic analyses.

Waters has an impressive track record of successfully leading research projects and managing staff. As the Director of Health Economics Research at the Milken Institute, he led projects on the health and economic impact of obesity in the United States and the costs of chronic diseases. He has also worked as an associate professor at the University of North Carolina and served as a deputy director at RTI International, where he participated in and led research projects evaluating health insurance expansion initiatives and Value-Based Purchasing under the Affordable Care Act.

Overall, Hugh Waters is a highly accomplished health care economist who has made significant contributions to the field. His extensive experience, broad expertise, and impressive publication record make him a sought-after expert in health financing and economic evaluation.

More about this expert

Full name
Hugh Waters
Location
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Title
Health Care Economist
Company
Independent Consultant
LinkedIn Connections
2961
Summary
Hugh Waters is a health economist and specialist in health financing and economic evaluation. His areas of expertise include: (1) health care payment methods and their effects; (2) the economic evaluation of public health initiatives; and (3) measuring the impact of health insurance reforms. Dr. Waters has significant experience in measuring performance, for both healthcare providers and health systems. He has published research in the peer-reviewed literature on international comparisons of quality-based purchasing arrangements, and the costs and benefits of quality improvement initiatives. In total, Dr. Waters has published 45 articles in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous book chapters, monographs, and project reports. He has worked closely with private health insurers and Medicaid programs and in North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, and Virginia. He has successfully carried out economic evaluations and Activity-Based Costing (ABC) in a wide variety of healthcare settings. He led an economic analysis of the Keystone Quality Improvement program in Michigan, focusing on the economic implications of a patient safety program aimed at reducing Blood Stream Infections (BSIs) and cases of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in intensive care settings showing that an intervention to reduce nosocomial infections in these settings can also financially benefit hospitals and health insurers. Dr. Waters speaks French and Spanish fluently and has worked in over 30 countries. He has a Ph.D. in Public Health Economics from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and an M.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University. He was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health from 2000 to 2010 and maintains adjunct appointments at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the UNC Gillings School of Public Health.
Skills
Health Economics Health Financing

Education

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Attended in 1994 - 1998
Field of study: Health Economics
Georgetown University
MS
Attended in 1985 - 1987
Field of study: Foreign Service; International Economics; African Studies

Positions

Independent Consultant
Chapel Hill, NC
Health Care Economist
Feb 2022 - Present

I am a health economist and specialist in health financing and economic evaluation, with 23 years of experience working with public health programs, both nationally and internationally. My areas of expertise include: (1) health insurance and health financing reforms; (2) economic evaluation of health care technology and interventions; and (3) calculation of the health and economic effects of behavioral risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, and obesity. I speak French and Spanish and have worked in more than 30 countries.
Milken Institute
Washington, DC
Director of Health Economics Research
Jul 2017 - Feb 2020

Led research projects and managed staff. Projects included:
• The Health and Economic Impact of Obesity in the United States.
• The Costs of Chronic Diseases in the U.S.
• Policies to Reduce the Prevalence of Chronic Diseases in the U.S.
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Associate Professor
Jul 2014 - Jul 2017

Health Economist in the School of Nursing, with adjunct appointment in the School of Public Health.
Health Economist
Health Economist
Health Economist Consultant
Jul 2013 - Jun 2014

Assignments included the following:

• GLG Councils – Carried out in-depth analysis of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for an association
representing business groups; presented summaries of the ACA to employers’ groups and
companies.

• Management Sciences for Health – Developed a Health Financing Strategic Plan for the Country
of Rwanda.

• University of North Carolina Population Center – Designed an Impact Evaluation for the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Project.

• Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) – Designed a costing project for
non-governmental health services providers, and oversaw implementation of the project.
RTI International
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Deputy Director, Health Care Quality and Outcomes Program, RTI International
Aug 2011 - Jul 2013

Participated in and led research projects and proposals; managed program staff. Projects included evaluation of health insurance expansion and Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) initiatives and he under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).