July/August 2021
Our Experts
Groundbreaking research, innovation, and intellectual energy
The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased older adults’ risk of falling and injuring themselves. More than a third of people between the ages of 50 and 80 report their physical activity declined in the pandemic’s first 10 months, according to the new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, and many of these adults also reported an increased fear of falling. 
A multidisciplinary U-M team, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, developed a series of COVID-19 data tracking tools to inform public health responses in Michigan throughout the pandemic.
Recent state and federal policies have focused on reducing prescribing of opioids in an effort to combat the opioid epidemic. However, such policies may unintentionally restrict care for millions of Americans who receive long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain. In this IHPI brief, U-M researchers examine barriers to primary and specialty care for patients taking opioids for chronic pain and outline a series of policy options to improve access. 

Chad Ellimoottil, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of urology and director of IHPI's Telehealth Research Incubator, led the release of the new Telehealth Research Snapshots. This report provides policymakers, journalists, healthcare administrators, and others with research insights on population-level impacts of telehealth on healthcare access, costs, quality, and experience.
New guidelines, which stem from a collaboration between the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the University of Michigan through the Michigan Plan for Appropriate, Tailored Healthcare in Pregnancy (MiPATH), recommend individualizing care, incorporating telemedicine, and considering both medical conditions and social and structural determinants that may impact outcomes in routine care delivery. The effort was led by Alex Peahl, M.D., M.Sc., clinical lecturer in obstetrics & gynecology, and head of MiPATH.
Chopra
Vineet Chopra, M.D., M.Sc., chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine, is leaving Michigan Medicine to become Chair, Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado, effective October 18, 2021. His last day at Michigan will be September 30, 2021.
Accolades
Member achievements, awards, 
and appointments
Forty-three IHPI members were approved for promotions to the ranks of professor and associate professor, effective September 1, 2021, at the May Regents meeting.
Sen
Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, received a Taubman Scholar appointment to pursue novel and bold biomedical research. Sen is a psychiatrist whose research focuses on the interactions between genes and the environment, and their effect on stress, anxiety, and depression.
Chen
Julia Chen, M.D., clinical instructor of internal medicine, was one of five awardees of the Association of American Medical Colleges' new Telehealth Equity Catalyst Awards for her GET Access (Geriatric Education on Telehealth) program.
New members
Welcome to IHPI!
Anesthesiology
Public Health
Internal Medicine
Learn something new
Education, training, and skill building
Deadline: September 10, 2021
Applications are now open to serve on the Working Group to share knowledge, experience, and skills related to study team training and education at the University of Michigan.

Event date: October 5, 2021
An opportunity to learn how NIH grant reviewers, or “study sections,” think. This event is ideal for fellows and early career faculty who are writing career development and R01 grants.

Pre-applications deadline: August 18, 2021
Hosted by the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research, in partnership with the Medical School Office of Research, this funding, coupled with tailored MICHR support, will provide the foundation for future large-scale grant submissions.
A new bipartisan Congressional Social Determinants of Health Caucus was just launched, with a goal to consolidate efforts to advance equity and improve health conditions. This is a great opportunity for IHPI members who have worked on SDoH issues to share comprehensive comments and potentially engage with this caucus.

If you are interested in responding to the RFI, visit this form and follow the prompts to submit comments. Submissions are due by September 21, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact Eileen Kostanecki at ekostan@umich.edu.
HIGHLIGHTED RESOURCE
Gallup Analytics provides online access to public opinion data from the US Daily Poll, Gallup Social Series, and Gallup World Poll. Users can analyze data and create tables, charts, scatterplots, and maps.

In the news
Our members making headlines
Deaths from all causes combined increased dramatically early in the COVID-19 pandemic for certain demographic groups in the U.S.—particularly for Black and Hispanic people—even when accounting for socioeconomic factors, according to new research from Sarah Miller, Ph.D., assistant professor of business, and published online by the journal Health Affairs.
A new study led by Nora Becker, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine, shows even after in-person care restarted, women were 20% to 30% less likely to get such services than in 2019, especially those from lower-income and higher-minority areas.
Parents of children ages 311 are almost evenly split on whether to vaccinate kids once the vaccine is available, with 49% saying it’s likely their child will get vaccinated and 51% saying it’s unlikely, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
Preeti Malani, M.D., M.S., M.S.J., professor of internal medicine, was a special guest on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's podcast for CNN Chasing Life. The episode, "Helping Grandma and Grandpa Get Back in the Groove," featured Malani, who is also the director of the National Poll on Healthy Aging, explaining how to best support older adults through the pandemic and beyond. 
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About IHPI
The Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation is committed to improving the quality, safety, equity, and affordability of healthcare services.

To carry out our ambitious mission, our efforts are focused in four areas:
  • Evaluating the impact of healthcare reforms
  • Improving the health of communities
  • Promoting greater value in healthcare
  • Innovating in health IT and healthcare delivery

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