Harkness Project Title: Policy and Organizational Strategies to Reduce Clinical Performance Variations

Mentors: Alan B. Cohen, Sc.D.; David Blumenthal, M.D.

Placement: Boston University Health Policy Institute

Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Robin Gauld, Ph.D., a 2008–09 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is an associate professor of health policy at the University of Otago, where he had previously been lecturer and senior lecturer. Past positions also include several lecturer posts and research officer at the City University of Hong Kong. Gauld's current research interests include comparative health policy, primary care, and health information and technology. He has written and contributed to numerous books and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been published in journals such as the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Medical Care, the British Medical Journal, Health Policy, and the New Zealand Medical Journal. In addition, Gauld's research on the impact of New Zealand's health restructurings has been cited by the Australian Health Minister, and he gave the keynote address on "The New Zealand e-government experience: political promise, practical perceptions and future prospects" at the CIO Conference in Auckland in 2007. Gauld holds a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Hong Kong, and a master's degree with distinction from Victoria University, Wellington.

Career Activity Since Fellowship

• First Prize, Health and Social Care, British Medical Association Book Awards (for: The New Health Policy), 2010

Current Position: Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Centre for Health Systems, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Medical School (Updated January 2012)

E-mail: robin.gauld@otago.ac.nz

Harkness-Related Publication

Gauld R, Blank R, Burgers J, Cohen AB, Dobrow M, Ikegami N, Kwon S, Luxford K, Millett C, Wendt C., “The World Health Report 2008: Primary Healthcare: How wide is the gap between its agenda and implementation in 12 High-Income Health Systems?” Healthcare Policy. 7(3). 2012.

Gauld R, Horwitt J, Williams S, Cohen AB. “What strategies do US hospitals employ to reduce unwarranted clinical practice variations?” American Journal of Medical Quality, October 2010.