Adam Sacarny
Department of Health Policy & Management
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
722 West 168 Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10032
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
722 West 168 Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10032
Employment
2024-Associate
Professor of Health Policy and Management (with
tenure), Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health
2016-2024Assistant
Professor of Health Policy and
Management, Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health
2014-2015Robert
Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy
Research, Harvard University
Other Affiliations
2016-PresentFaculty
Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research
2016-PresentAffiliate, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action
Lab (J-PAL)
2017-PresentAffiliate, Columbia Population Research
Center (CPRC)
2017-2022Academic
Affiliate, Office of Evaluation Sciences, U.S. General Services
Administration
Education
2009-2014PhD,
Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003-2007BA,
Economics, Columbia
University
Publications
Gaynor, Martin, Adam Sacarny, Raffaella Sadun,
Chad Syverson, and Shruthi Venkatesh. “The Anatomy of a
Hospital System Merger: The Patient Did Not Respond Well to
Treatment.” The Review of Economics
and Statistics, forthcoming.
Gross, Tal, Adam Sacarny, Maggie Shi, and
David Silver. “Regulated Revenues and Hospital Behavior:
Evidence from a Medicare Overhaul.” The Review of Economics and Statistics,
forthcoming.
Chandra, Amitabh, Pragya Kakani, and Adam
Sacarny. “Hospital Allocation and Racial Disparities in
Health Care.” The Review of Economics
and Statistics, forthcoming.
Harnisch, Michelle, Michael L. Barnett,
Stephen Coussens, Kali S. Thomas, Mark Olfson, Kiros Berhane, and
Adam Sacarny. 2024. “Physician Antipsychotic
Overprescribing Letters and Cognitive, Behavioral, and Physical
Health Outcomes Among People With Dementia: A Secondary Analysis
of a Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA
Network Open, 7(4):e247604.
Sacarny, Adam, Ian Williamson, Weston Merrick,
Tatyana Avilova, and Mireille Jacobson. 2023. “Prescription
drug monitoring program use by opioid prescribers: a
cross-sectional study.” Health Affairs
Scholar, 1(6): qxad067.
Marzilli Ericson, Keith M., Adam Sacarny, and
Annetta Zhou. 2023. “Dangerous Prescribing and Healthcare
Fragmentation: Evidence from Opioids.” Journal of Public Economics, 225: 104980.
Barnett, Michael, Andrew Olenski, and Adam
Sacarny. 2023. “Common Practice: Spillovers from Medicare
on Private Health Care.” American
Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15(3): 65-88.
Sacarny, Adam, Tatyana Avilova, David Powell,
Ian Williamson, Weston Merrick, and Mireille Jacobson. 2023.
“A Randomized Trial of Letters to Encourage Prescription
Monitoring Program Use and Guideline-Concordant Opioid
Prescribing.” Health Affairs,
42(1): 140-149.
Sacarny, Adam, Elana Safran, Mary Steffel,
Jacob R. Dunham, Orolo D. Abili, Lobat Mohajeri, Patricia T. Oh,
Alan Sim, Robert E. Brutcher, and Christopher Spevak. 2022.
“Effect of Pharmacist Email Alerts on Concurrent
Prescribing of Opioids and Benzodiazepines by Prescribers and
Primary Care Managers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.”
JAMA Health Forum, 3(9):
e223378.
Horn, Danea, Adam Sacarny, and Annetta Zhou.
2022, “Technology Adoption and Market Allocation: The Case
of Robotic Surgery.” Journal of Health
Economics, 86: 102672.
Sacarny, Adam, Katherine Baicker, and Amy
Finkelstein. 2022. “Out of the Woodwork: Enrollment
Spillovers in the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment.”
American Economic Journal: Economic
Policy, 14(3): 273-295.
Sacarny, Adam and Jamie Daw. 2021.
“Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination in Major U.S.
Cities.” JAMA Health Forum,
2(9): e212415.
Powell, Michael, Allison Koenecke, James Brian
Byrd, Akihiko Nishimura, Maximilian F. Konig, Ruoxuan Xiong,
Sadiqa Mahmood, Vera Mucaj, Chetan Bettegowda, Liam Rose, Suzanne
Tamang, Adam Sacarny, Brian Caffo, Susan Athey, Elizabeth A.
Stuart, and Joshua T. Vogelstein. 2021. “Ten Rules for
Conducting Retrospective Pharmacoepidemiological Analyses:
Example COVID-19 Study.” Frontiers in
Pharmacology. 12: 700776.
Sachs, Rachel E. and Adam Sacarny. 2020.
“Ensuring Access to Emerging COVID-19 Treatments Through
Medicare Reimbursement Policy.” JAMA
Health Forum, 1(8): e200984.
Sacarny, Adam, Andrew Olenski, and Michael L.
Barnett. 2019. “Association of Quetiapine Overuse Letters
With Prescribing by Physician Peers of Targeted Recipients: A
Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.”
JAMA Psychiatry, 76(10):
1094-1095.
Sacarny, Adam, Michael L. Barnett, and
Shantanu Agrawal. 2019. “New Evidence on Stemming Low-Value
Prescribing.” NEJM Catalyst,
April 10.
Sacarny, Adam, Michael L. Barnett, Jackson Le,
Frank Tetkoski, David Yokum, and Shantanu Agrawal. 2018.
“Peer Comparison Letters for High Volume Primary Care
Prescribers of Quetiapine in Older and Disabled Adults: A
Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA
Psychiatry, 75(10): 1003-1011.
Glied, Sherry and Adam Sacarny. 2018.
“Is the U.S. Healthcare System Wasteful and Inefficient? A
Review of the Evidence.” Journal of
Health Politics, Policy and Law, 43(5): 739-765.
Sacarny, Adam. 2018. “Adoption and
Learning Across Hospitals: The Case of a Revenue-Generating
Practice.” Journal of Health
Economics, 60: 142-164.
Sacarny, Adam, David Yokum, and Shantanu
Agrawal. 2017. “Government-Academic Partnerships in
Randomized Evaluations: The Case of Inappropriate
Prescribing.” American Economic Review
Papers & Proceedings, 107(5): 466-470.
Marzilli Ericson, Keith M., Jon Kingsdale,
Timothy Layton, and Adam Sacarny. 2017. “Nudging Leads
Consumers In Colorado To Shop But Not Switch ACA Marketplace
Plans.” Health Affairs, 36(2):
311-319.
Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam
Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. 2016. “Perhaps Market Forces Do
Work in Health Care After All.” Harvard Business Review (Online), December.
Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam
Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. 2016. “Healthcare
Exceptionalism? Performance and Allocation in the U.S. Healthcare
Sector.” American Economic
Review, 106(8): 2110-2144.
Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam
Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. 2016. “Productivity Dispersion
in Medicine and Manufacturing.” American Economic Review Papers &
Proceedings, 106(5): 99-103.
Sacarny, Adam, David Yokum, Amy Finkelstein,
and Shantanu Agrawal. 2016. “Medicare Letters To Curb
Overprescribing Of Controlled Substances Had No Detectable Effect
On Providers.” Health Affairs,
35(3): 471-479.
Bartolini, Leonardo, Linda S. Goldberg, and
Adam Sacarny. 2008. “How Economic News Moves
Markets.” Current Issues in Economics
and Finance, 14(6): August 2008
Working Papers
Gupta, Atul, Ambar La Forgia, and Adam
Sacarny. 2024. “Turbocharging Profits? Contract Gaming and
Revenue Allocation in Healthcare.” NBER Working Paper No.
32564.
Ericson, Keith M., Timothy Layton, Adrianna
McIntyre, and Adam Sacarny. 2023. “Reducing Administrative
Barriers Increases Take-up of Subsidized Health Insurance
Coverage: Evidence from a Field Experiment.” NBER Working
Paper No. 30885. Revisions resubmitted to The Review of Economics and Statistics.
Honors and Awards
2022AER: Insights Excellence in Refereeing
Award
2019AcademyHealth
Publication of the Year (“Effect of Peer Comparison
Letters for High-Volume Primary Care Prescribers of Quetiapine
in Older and Disabled Adults: A Randomized Clinical
Trial”)
2019NIHCM Health
Care Research Award Finalist (“Effect of Peer Comparison
Letters for High-Volume Primary Care Prescribers of Quetiapine
in Older and Disabled Adults: A Randomized Clinical
Trial”)
2007Phi Beta
Kappa
Grants and Fellowships
2024-2025J-PAL
North America - Can E-mails Nudge Safer and Better-Informed
Prescribing of Risky Drugs? (PI: Adam Sacarny), $84,900
2017-2024National
Institute on Aging (P01AG005842) - Improving Health Outcomes
for an Aging Population, Project: Market Learning and Health
Care Disparities (PLs: Amitabh Chandra and Adam Sacarny, PI:
Katherine Baicker), $156,676/year
2017-2024National
Institute on Aging (R01AG034151) - What Does Health Insurance
Do? Evidence from the Oregon Health Insurance Lottery (PIs:
Katherine Baicker and Amy Finkelstein), $561,546/year
2021-2023National
Institute on Aging (R21AG070942) - The Effect of De-Prescribing
Antipsychotics on Health and Quality of Life for People with
Dementia (PI: Adam Sacarny), $427,914
2020-2022J-PAL
North America - Nudging Providers to Curtail Dangerous Opioid
Prescribing: A Trial to Investigate Mechanisms (PI: Adam
Sacarny), $142,579
2021-2022National
Institute for Health Care Management - Nudging Providers to
Curtail Dangerous Opioid Prescribing and Improve the Safety of
the Health Care Delivery System (PI: Adam Sacarny),
$50,000
2018-2022J-PAL
North America - The Effect of Behavioral Interventions on
Enrollment and Adverse Selection in Health Insurance
Marketplaces (PI: Timothy Layton), $206,010
2016-2020Laura
and John Arnold Foundation – Using HCCI Data to Study
Issues Relating to the Efficiency of the US Health Care System
(PI: Amy Finkelstein), $475,000
2019National
Institute on Aging (P01AG005842) - Improving Health Outcomes
for an Aging Population, Project: How Health Insurance Affects
Health (PLs: Katherine Baicker and Amy Finkelstein),
$155,082/year
2015-2017J-PAL
North America – Intervening with Consumers to Improve
Choices on Health Insurance Marketplaces (PIs: Adam Sacarny and
Katherine Swartz), $135,300
2014-2017J-PAL
North America – Reducing Inappropriate Prescribing of
Controlled Substances in the United States (PI: Adam Sacarny),
$7,082
2012-2014National
Institute on Aging (T32-AG000186) – NBER Training Program
in Aging and Health Economics (Trainee)
2012George and
Obie Shultz Research Support Grant
2009-2011John
Castle Graduate International Fellowship
Seminars and Talks
2024Johns Hopkins
University Carey School of Business; University of Pennsylvania
Perelman School of Medicine; Junior Health Economics Summit
(Whistler, BC); Joint BU/Harvard/MIT Health Economics Seminar;
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health;
American Society of Health Economists Meeting (San Diego,
CA)
2023Junior Health
Economics Summit (Whistler, BC); University of Missouri;
University of Kansas; American Society of Health Economists
Meeting (St. Louis, MO); Bowdoin College
2022Association
for Public Policy Analysis & Management Fall Research
Conference (Online Presentation, rescheduled from 2021);
University of Massachusetts, Amherst; AcademyHealth Annual
Research Meeting (Washington, DC); American Society of Health
Economists Meeting (Austin, TX); Boston University School of
Public Health; University of Pennsylvania Behavioral Science
& Health Symposium; Association for Public Policy Analysis
& Management Fall Research Conference (Washington, DC);
University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute
2021MIT Sloan
Organizational Economics Lunch Series; American Society of
Health Economists Meeting (Online Presentation); NBER Improving
Health Outcomes for an Aging Population Meeting (Online
Presentation)
2020American
Economic Association Meetings (San Diego, CA); Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality; Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia PolicyLab; Junior Health Economics Summit
(Whistler, BC); NBER Summer Institute (Online Presentation);
University of Pennsylvania Center for Clinical Epidemiology and
Biostatistics
2019Junior Health
Economics Summit (Whistler, BC); Dartmouth NIA/P01 Research
Meeting (Boston, MA); Hunter College; AcademyHealth Research
Meeting (Washington, DC) CEPRA/NBER Workshop on Aging and
Health (Lugano, Switzerland); American Society of Health
Economists Meeting (Washington, DC); iHEA World Congress
(Basel, Switzerland); New York Academy of Medicine; Princeton
University; Office of Evaluation Sciences “Using
Evidence” Meeting (Washington, DC)
2018American
Economic Association Meetings (Philadelphia, PA); University of
Minnesota School of Public Health; University of Pennsylvania;
Junior Health Economics Summit (Whistler, BC); American
University; American Society of Health Economists Meeting
(Atlanta, GA)
2017American
Economic Association Meetings (Chicago, IL); AcademyHealth
National Health Policy Conference (Washington, DC); Junior
Health Economics Summit (Whistler, BC); University at Albany
– SUNY; Challenging the Conventional Wisdom Conference
(Columbia University); iHEA World Congress (Boston, MA);
Advances with Field Experiments Conference (Chicago, IL);
Cornell University
2016Junior Health
Economics Summit (Whistler, BC); Vanderbilt University; Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Research
Annual Meeting (Aspen, CO); American Society of Health
Economists Meeting (Philadelphia, PA); AcademyHealth Research
Meeting (Boston, MA); Advances with Field Experiments
Conference (Chicago, IL); RAND (Santa Monica, CA); Office of
Evaluation Sciences (Washington, DC); APPAM Fall Research
Conference (Washington, DC); Hunter College; J-PAL North
America Conference (Cambridge, MA); Public-Academic Research
Colloquium (Washington, DC)
2015Harvard
Medical School; White House Social and Behavioral Sciences
Team; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy
Research Annual Meeting (San Diego, CA); iHEA World Congress
(Milan, Italy); University of Chicago School of Social Service
Administration; University of Chicago Harris School of Public
Policy Studies
2014Columbia
University Mailman School of Public Health; Congressional
Budget Office; Stanford University School of Medicine; Yale
School of Public Health; University of Minnesota School of
Public Health; Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; USC Price
School of Public Policy; Federal Reserve Bank of New
York
Discussant
2024American
Economic Association Meetings (San Antonio, TX), American
Society of Health Economists Meeting (San Diego, CA)
2023American
Economic Association Meetings (New Orleans, LA), American
Society of Health Economists Meeting (St. Louis, MO)
2022American
Economic Association Meetings (Online), American Society of
Health Economists Meeting (Austin, TX)
2021American
Society of Health Economists Meeting (Online)
2020American
Economic Association Meetings (San Diego, CA)
2019Japan
Economic Seminar (New York, NY)
2018American
Society of Health Economists Meeting (Atlanta, GA)
2016American
Society of Health Economists Meeting (Philadelphia, PA); Annual
Health Economics Conference (Nashville, TN); National Tax
Association Meeting (Baltimore, MD)
2015National Tax
Association Meeting (Boston, MA)
Dissertation Committees
2023Andrew
Olenski, Department of Economics
2022Tatyana
Avilova, Department of Economics
2022Maggie Shi,
Department of Economics
2020Yi Cheng,
Department of Economics
Teaching
2024Health
Economics (P6503)
2016-PresentResearch Methods III: Analysis of Large Scale Data
(P8508)
2016-2018Research
Methods I: Empirical Analysis for Health Policy (P8502)
Previous Relevant Positions
2009-2014Research
Assistant, Professor Amy Finkelstein
2008-2009Associate Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New
York
2007-2008Research
Associate, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Professional Activities
2024Co-Organizer,
NYC Health Economics Day Workshop
2023-PresentEditorial Board, Health Services
Research
2023Theme
Co-Leader (Addressing Patient and Consumer Preferences and
Needs), AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting
2022Planning
Committee and Theme Co-Leader (Addressing Patient and Consumer
Preferences and Needs), AcademyHealth Annual Research
Meeting
2019Co-Organizer,
NYC Health Economics Day Workshop
2012-PresentReferee for: American Economic
Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic
Policy, American Economic Review, American Economic Review:
Insights, American Journal of Health Economics, BMJ, Economic
Journal, Health Affairs, Health Economics, Health Services
Research, INQUIRY, J-PAL North America Health Care Delivery
Initiative, J-PAL North America State and Local Innovation
Initiative, JAMA, JAMA Health Forum, JAMA Internal Medicine,
Journal of Applied Econometrics, Journal of Economics, Race,
and Policy, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Health
Politics, Policy, and Law, Journal of Human Resources, Journal
of Law, Economics and Organization, Journal of Policy Analysis
and Management, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of
Political Economy: Microeconomics, Journal of Public Economics,
Journal of the European Economic Association, Management
Science, The Milbank Quarterly, New England Journal of
Medicine, PLOS ONE, Preventive Medicine, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, Quarterly Journal of Economics,
RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics,
Science, US-Israel Binational Science Foundation