Joanne Spetz, PhD
My research focuses on the economics of health care, with an emphasis on the health care workforce. I have led national and state surveys of registered nurses and nursing schools, evaluations of programs to expand the supply of nurses, research on the effects of health information technologies in hospitals, studies of the relationship between nursing and patient outcomes, analysis of hospital services and organization, and assessments of the effects of minimum nurse staffing regulations on patients and hospitals.
I served as a consultant to the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future of Nursing and am a member of the National Commission on VA Nursing. I frequently provide testimony and technical assistance to state and federal agencies and policymakers. I've taught quantitative research methods for doctoral students, and financial management and health economics for master’s students in nursing administration and public health. I received my Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University after studying economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Quantitative Research Methods and Econometrics
- Health Economics
- Healthcare Finance and Financial Management
- Editorial Board, Medical Care Research and Review
- Associate Editor, BMC Health Services Research
- Co-Columnist, Nursing Economics
- Program Committee, AcademyHealth
- Scientific Committee, International Health Economics Association
- American Society of Health Economists
- American Economic Association
- Spetz J, Ash M, Konstantinidis C, Herrera C. (2011). The effect of unions on the distribution of wages of hospital-employed registered nurses in the United States. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(1-2), 60-67. PMID: 21054601
- Chapman SA, Wides CD, Spetz J. (2010). Payment regulations for advanced practice nurses: Implications for primary care. Policy, Politics, and Nurse Practice, 11(2), 89-98. PMID: 20834022
- Spetz J, Keane D. (2009). Information technology implementation in a rural hospital: A cautionary tale. Journal of Health Care Management, 54(5), 337-347. PMID: 19831118
- Spetz J. (2008). Nurse satisfaction and the implementation of minimum nurse staffing regulations. Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, 9(1), 15-21. PMID: 18390479
- Spetz J, Donaldson N, Aydin C, Brown DS. (2008). How many nurses per patient? Measurements of nurse staffing in health services research. Health Services Research, 43(5), 1674-1692. PMID: 18459953