Wendy Yi Xu, PhD
Associate Professor
Health Services Management and Policy
Biography
Low-income Americans are more likely than higher-income individuals to have multiple chronic conditions, older, living in rural areas with poor access to appropriate health care, and are vulnerable to higher financial burdens from health care spending. Health care for the vulnerable populations has been a focus in my research, which addresses the causes of these problems arising from certain aspects of the U.S. health care system design, as well as the consequences of health policies attending to these issues.
My research examines two topics related to accessing adequacy and financial burdens in vulnerable populations: (1) the redistributive effects of insurance benefits on consumers of different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and (2) disparities in cost-related access to care and provider supply adequacy for vulnerable populations. My research has primarily employed complex survey data and large administrative claims databases.
Ongoing funded projects:
"Investigating Effect of State Surprise Billing Regulations on Commercial Insurance Plan Enrollees". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The goal of the study is to investigate the effects of balance billing regulations on surprise billing practices and health care prices.
"Network Regulation and Consumer Access Project". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In this project, we conduct a 'secret shopper' survey to understand consumers' experience in navigating provider networks.
"Disparities in Health Care Use Among Patients with Dementia Related Disorders". National Institute On Minority Health and Health Disparities. This project examines cancer screening use disparities in patients with dementia.
Education
- PhD
- Health Services Research Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 2013
- MS
- Health Services Research Policy and Administration School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
- BA
- Economics, School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China, 2006
Research interests
Health care access barriers and financial burdens for vulnerable populations
Select publications
- Xu WY, Song C, Li Y, Brill S, Retchin S. Out-of-Network Care in Commercially Insured Pediatric Patients According to Medical Complexity. Upcoming, Medical Care
- Pitcher A,* Xu WY. The Supply of Authorized Providers for Medication-Assisted Treatments in Ohio. Upcoming, Ohio Journal of Public Health.
- Goldstein EV,* Xu WY, Seiber EE. Impact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion on oral surgery delivery at community health centers: an observational study. BMC Oral Health. 2021 Oct 20;21(1):540.
- Xu WY, Retchin S, Buerhaus P. Dual Eligibles and Inadequate Access to Primary Care Providers. American Journal of Managed Care, In Press. May 2021, Volume 27, Issue 5.
- Malik AT, § Xie J, Retchin SM, Phillips FM, Xu W, Yu E, Khan SN. Primary single-level lumbar microdisectomy/decompression at a free-standing ambulatory surgical center vs a hospital-owned outpatient department-an analysis of 90-day outcomes and costs. Spine J. 2020 Jun;20(6):882-887.
- Bose-Brill S, Prater L, § Goldstein EV, Xu W, Moss KO, Retchin SM, White S. Primary Care Physician and Beneficiary Characteristics Associated With Billing for Advance Care Planning. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 May;68(5):1108-1110.
- Donneyong MM, Chang TJ, Roth JA, Guilds M, Ankrah D, Najafzadeh M, Xu WY, Chlebowski RT, Margolis K, Manson JE. The Women's Health Initiative Estrogen-alone Trial had differential disease and medical expenditure consequences across age groups. Menopause. 2020 Jun;27(6):632-639.
- Xu WY, Song C, Li Y, Retchin S. Cost-sharing Disparities for Out-of-Network Care in Adults with Behavioral Health Conditions. JAMA Network Open. 2019;2(11):e1914554.
- Xu WY, Retchin S, Seiber E, Li Y.* Disparities of Health Care Financial Burden under the Affordable Care Act. 2019. Inquiry. 2019 Jan-Dec;56:46958019871815.
- Xu WY, Dowd B, Li Y, Donneyong M, Retchin S. Cost-Sharing Payments for Out-of-Network Care in Commercially Insured Adults. 2019. American Journal of Managed Care. 2019;25(12):598-604