Paul G. Barnett

Paul Barnett conducts collaborative research with other Stanford faculty on the cost-effectiveness of treatments for heart disease, lung cancer, and substance abuse disorders. He directs the Health Economic Resource Center, a national center on health economics research funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He is also the health economist for the Treatment Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. His health services research on substance abuse treatment focuses on the cost-effectiveness of maintenance therapies for opiate addiction.

Paul Barnett conducts economic evaluations with Stanford faculty on the cost, and cost-effectiveness of health services and study to improve efficiency through the de-implementation of low-value services.  He is currently identifying the factors that lead to unnecessary advanced imaging for new episodes of low-back pain, and the effect of these studies on patient outcomes and cost.  Other recent work has evaluated care for hepatitis C and HIV, smoking cessation services, treatments for substance use disorders, and the health plan’s choice between making or buying cardiac revascularization services.