Luisa Franzini
Dr. Luisa Franzini's research interests focus on health care costs, health policy innovations in Maryland and health disparities. During the last 20 years, a major component of her research and teaching activities has focused on the application of economics and econometrics to investigating the causes and consequences of disparities in health and health care delivery in vulnerable populations. Her research has been widely published, including in JAMA, Health Affairs and the American Journal of Public Health.
Departments/Units
- Department of Health Policy and Management
- Center on Aging
Areas of Interest
Core FacultyHealth Disparities; Health Economics; Econometrics
Dr. Franzini is Professor and Chair of the Health Services Administration Department, School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research interests focus on health care costs, health policy innovations in Maryland, health disparities and the impact of COVID-19 on health care systems.
During the last 20 years, a major component of Franzini’s research and teaching activities has focused on the application of economics and econometrics to investigating the causes and consequences of disparities in health and health care delivery in vulnerable populations. She brings extensive experience in cost and cost-effectiveness analysis and a commitment to improving healthcare access and quality for vulnerable populations, including chronically ill patients and high-risk children on Medicaid.
Her research on health disparities addresses the pathways through which socioeconomic disparities affect health, including trust, cultural factors, religion, policies to reduce disparities, healthcare disparities and disparities in parenting and academic achievement. Franzini’s research has been published in Journal of the American Medical Association, Health Affairs, Health Services Research, American Journal of Managed Care, Social Science and Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health.
BS, Economics, 1977
London School of Economics, London, England
MS, Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, 1978
London School of Economics, London, England
PhD, Econometrics, 1983
London School of Economics, London, England
HLSA725 Econometrics in Public Health
SPHL601 Core Concepts in Public Health
Benjenk I, Franzini L, Chen J “Evidence of the Linkage Between Hospital-based Care Coordination Strategies and Hospital Overall (Star) Ratings” Medical Care, Volume 58, Number 1, 19 January 2020, pp. 18-26(9).
DC Goodman, C Ganduglia-Cazaban, L Franzini, TA Stukel, JR.Wasserman, MA.Murphy, Y Kim, ME. Mowitz, JE. Tyson, JR. Doherty, GA. Little “Neonatal Intensive Care Variation in Medicaid-Insured Newborns: A Population-Based Study” The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 209, June 2019, Pages 44-51.e2.
Junghyun Kim, SS Rajan, XL Du, L Franzini, SH Giordano, RO Morgan “Association between financial burden and adjuvant hormonal therapy adherence and persistent use for privately insured women aged 18–64 years in BCBS of Texas” Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 1-14, 2018.
JM Mitchell, JD Reschovsky, RJ Film, L Franzini “Examining Drivers of Health Care Spending: Evidence on Self-referral Among a Privately Insured Population” Medical care 55(7), 2017.
RA Mosquera, EBC Avritscher, CL Samuels, TS Harris, C Pedroza, P Evans, F Navarro, SH Wootton, S Pacheco, G Clifton, S Moody, L Franzini, J Zupancic, JE Tyson “Effect of an Enhanced Medical Home on Serious Illness and Cost of Care Among High-Risk Children With Chronic Illness: A Randomized Clinical Trial” JAMA 312(24):2640-2648, 2014.
L Franzini, J Skinner, O Mikhail “McAllen And El Paso Revisited: Medicare Variations Not Always Reflected In The Under-Sixty-Five Population” Health Affairs, 29 (12): 2302-2309, 2010.