Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD is the Former Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. She is Founders Chair of General Internal Medicine and Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is also Core Faculty at the VA Center for Healthcare Evaluation Research and Promotion, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz, VA Medical Center.
Over the last 20 years, Dr. Werner has built a foundational research program examining the effects of health care payment and related policies on health care delivery, using methods designed to draw causal inference from observational data. She has investigated the unintended consequences of quality improvement incentives, and was among the first to recognize that public reporting of quality information may worsen racial disparities.
Her research has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including NEJM, JAMA, and Health Affairs. Beyond publication, Dr. Werner has influenced research and policy as a member of numerous advisory committees to the state and federal government as well as research foundations. She is a Core Investigator with the VA HSR&D Center for Healthcare Evaluation, Research, and Promotion (CHERP).
Dr. Werner has received numerous awards for her work, including the Alice Hersh New Investigator Award from AcademyHealth, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the American Federation of Medical Research (AFMR) Outstanding Investigator Award. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Werner received her medical degree and doctoral degree in Health Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
