Harold (Hal) Luft
Harold (Hal) Luft, PhD, director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies for 14 years, has been named director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute.
Luft’s many contributions to the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS), the UCSF School of Medicine, the University and the field of health services research will be celebrated and recognized at a special symposium on Friday, Sept. 19, at the Laurel Heights campus.
Presenters include Rashi Fein, PhD, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School; Catherine McLaughlin, PhD, professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health; and Drummond Rennie, MD, deputy editor of JAMA. Details about the event, called “Hal Fest,” are posted on the IHPS website.
Since its inception in 1972, the IHPS has been extremely fortunate to have had leaders with broad vision, exceptional standards of excellence and clarity of purpose. As the institute’s second director, Luft has contributed to and exemplified the institute’s legacy of leadership and service.
Luft, a professor of health policy and health economics, was recruited to the institute in 1978 and became director in 1993. During his outstanding and visionary leadership as director, Luft established a firm foundation for the institute’s future growth and development. He initiated collaborative research with a broad range of institutions and entities, as well as with faculty from other departments within UCSF.
Luft advanced the institute’s visibility and partnership with the federal government through the creative use of a contract mechanism that enabled institute and UCSF faculty, as well researchers in other organizations, to conduct research and policy analysis projects for government agencies.
He also enhanced the institute’s leadership role in the academic and health services research community, serving as co-editor in chief of the journal Health Services Research from 2002 to 2006. In addition, junior faculty joined the institute; administrative systems were developed and refined to serve the institute and other units; and a highly effective management team was forged. Reflecting its history as a campuswide, multidisciplinary organized research unit, the institute also became a leader in interdisciplinary training.
Luft’s research has focused on both methodological and applied issues. He developed ways to account for how hospital competition occurs in a geographic context. He analyzed the performance and impact of health maintenance organizations, and developed ways to assess and adjust for differences in their enrollee mix.
Luft’s research also helped to explain the relationship between hospital volume and patient outcomes. His soon-to-be published book, Total Cure: The Antidote to the Health Care Crisis, presents a health plan proposal that differs from those currently under discussion. It focuses on how to change the way physicians and other providers are paid – to encourage more responsive, higher-quality and lower-cost care – while also providing universal coverage.
Luft also served for several decades on various UC systemwide committees dealing with health insurance and benefits for faculty and staff. His participation helped bring research insights into application and practice.
Luft assumed his new role as director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (PAMFRI) in July 2008. He will maintain a professor emeritus title at UCSF and plans to build research and training bridges between the IHPS, UCSF and PAMFRI.
