Resources and Environment

The Schneider Institutes for Health Policy (SIHP), founded in 1978, incorporates the Institute for Behavioral Health, the Institute for Healthcare Systems, and the Institute on Global Health. For more than 30 years SIHP investigators have conducted studies, testified before legislative committees, served on public commissions, and played key advisory roles at both state and federal levels on acute, chronic and behavioral health care issues.  SIHP currently conducts over 80 domestic and international studies on many different aspects of our key research areas of acute and chronic health care, behavioral health, and international health (see http://www.sihp.brandeis.edu).

 SIHP has achieved national recognition as a leading health care policy and research institution. Its staff frequently collaborate with other health services research organizations and outside partners, as well as with public and private service delivery systems that serve as laboratories for demonstrating and testing innovative financing and health care delivery strategies. SIHP examines a range of substantive issues that bridge the domains of health services and health policy research including access to and quality of care; how health care is financed, delivered, and utilized; the cost of such care; and the role of organizations in each of these domains. In many of its studies, SIHP focuses on the special problems of our most vulnerable populations, including the elderly and adolescents, individuals with chronic illness, and those with substance abuse problems and mental illness.

SIHP is comprised of approximately 60 individuals, including researchers with expertise in economics, medicine, public policy, public health, sociology, political science, psychology, and health care management, as well as affiliated graduate students, research support staff, and administrative staff. SIHP activities create a rich environment for graduate education and have prepared several generations of Heller students for leadership roles in both the public and private sectors. This combination of research, education and engagement in the "real world" positions SIHP as a unique think tank that excels in both the creation of new knowledge and its translation into state-of-the-art policies and services that make a difference.

Institute for Behavioral Health (IBH). The Institute for Behavioral Health aims to study and shape the structure of the prevention, treatment delivery, and payment systems, by conducting research and informing policymakers and other stakeholders. IBH, with its longstanding focus on mental health and the addictions, focuses on the intersection of health, behavior, and these systems of care, with an emphasis on the linkages among these areas. It highlights a broad, holistic view of health, acknowledging the importance of addressing social determinants of health to achieve better health and mental health outcomes. IBH’s underlying premise is that systems of care can be better used to promote health and to assist individuals to engage in behaviors which lead to better health. These systems include health, education, social service, and criminal justice. Over 70 current and recently completed studies conducted by over 15 IBH researchers fall under its mission, including studies on the role of primary care and general medical settings in behavioral health, the financing and organization of the alcohol and drug treatment system,  performance measurement, psychotropic medication use and adherence, managed behavioral health care, substance abuse prevention, mental health services, care coordination, tobacco, obesity and lifestyle, with a focus across the life-span. The IBH portfolio has been funded by NIH (NIDA, NIAAA, NIMH, NCCAM), SAMHSA, DoD, DoJ, CDC, FDA, foundations (e.g., the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), and specific States. 

The Brandeis-Harvard NIDA Center to Improve System Performance for Substance Use Disorders is a Center of Excellent that has been housed at IBH for over 20 years. It provides an example of the depth of experience and expertise both within Brandeis and outside partners. Continuing a 20 plus-year collaboration with Harvard University, its objective is to use research on payment methods and service delivery organization to synergistically expand the research base, to ensure that substance use treatment services are included in efforts to improve quality and reduce the cost of health care services, and to inform policy decisions that will profoundly affect the cost, quality and availability of substance use treatment services. The Center builds on 3 component research projects, as well as related research at Brandeis, Harvard and elsewhere, and supports the development of new research to provide crucial and timely research evidence that can inform the design and implementation of effective policies. The Administrative and Research Support Cores provide the organizational engine to promote cross-fertilization of methods and findings across projects to support the Center’s aims, one of which is to drive the next generation of research by training and mentoring junior investigators.

We are home to two separate multistate initiatives to address the opioid crisis: the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center (BJA-funded) and the Prescription Behavior Surveillance System (CDC-funded) which provides a rich data source, and we are very active in the areas of responsible prescribing and medication-assisted treatment.. We collaborate with a wide variety of PDMP stakeholders, including federal and state governments and agencies, universities, health departments, and medical and pharmacy boards.

Most recently, IBH is home to the Opioid Policy Research Center which aims to help policymakers, health officials, and other public and private stakeholders tackle the epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose deaths. As the crisis devastates families and communities across the country, legislative and public health interventions are underway to respond to the problem. Unfortunately, data to inform these approaches is limited, making it difficult to predict their impact. The OPRC is evaluating these efforts. Our research is better informing policymakers, enabling them to implement more cost-effective strategies to reduce opioid-related morbidity and mortality.

Institute for Healthcare Systems (IHS). Currently, IHS’s research and policy studies span six core competency areas: value of health services, financing, organization, quality, high-cost and high-risk populations, and technology. IHS is dedicated to bringing greater knowledge to both private and public policy makers. This is accomplished through state and national forums, short-term policy studies and research using advanced study designs and analytics. As an example of recent work, researchers within IHS have been involved in groundbreaking work related to value based purchasing at CMS. In addition to vetting short-term and long-term measures sets that need to be included in a P4P program, Brandeis helped establish performance thresholds and benchmarks that are being used to set incentive payments for hospitals. IHS's broad expertise on payment options, delivery systems, patient care practices, and quality has allowed it to develop real world organizational solutions, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Institute on Global Health (IGH).  Established in 2010, IGH aims to bring the best research in global health to leaders and policymakers who can use the knowledge to achieve results at scale, with a focus on the poor and social justice. IGH provides a vibrant home and resources in support of research, in-country program initiatives and policy engagement in international health. IGH contributes to research in health financing & policy.