Dr. Megdalynn Fisher is an Assistant Professor whose research examines the governance, financing, and performance of long-term care systems in the United States, with a particular focus on nursing homes, home- and community-based services (HCBS), and Medicaid policy. Her work sits at the intersection of health policy, public management, and health economics, and investigates how institutional design, regulatory environments, and market structure shape provider behavior, care quality, and access for vulnerable populations. Her research agenda emphasizes causal policy evaluation using administrative data and quasi-experimental methods to understand how public policies (including Medicaid payment reforms, regulatory oversight, and quality reporting systems) affect long-term care delivery. She is particularly interested in the incentives faced by providers operating under mixed publicâprivate financing arrangements and the implications for disparities in care quality across populations and geographic areas. More broadly, her work contributes to policy debates on cost containment, equity, and quality improvement in long-term care, with attention to the trade-offs inherent in designing sustainable systems for aging populations.
research interests
- Long-term care policy (nursing homes, assisted living, home- and community-based services) - Medicaid and Medicare financing of long-term services and supports (LTSS) - Quality of care, quality measurement, and regulatory oversight in nursing homes - Provider behavior, organizational performance, and market structure in health care - Public vs. private provision of health services and contracting/governance arrangements - Health equity and disparities in access to and quality of long-term care - Policy evaluation using quasi-experimental methods (difference-in-differences, event studies, administrative data) - Aging policy and the sustainability of long-term care systems - Hospital (and healthcare) Advertising - Section 340B, Drug Pricing Program
