Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H., is the Percy and Mary Murphy Professor of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine and professor of health management and policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. He is director of the division of general pediatrics and director of the Children's Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit. Freed has over 20 years of experience in children's health services research and has been the principal investigator of numerous federal, state and foundation-funded grants. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles on child health policy and health economics, immunizations, physician behavior, the medical workforce and interspecialty variation in the provision of preventive services to children. He is a past president of the Society for Pediatric Research, the largest research society in the field of child health. Freed is the 2009 recipient of the Douglas K. Richardson Lifetime Achievement Award for Perinatal and Pediatric Health Care Research from the Society of Pediatric Research. Freed also serves on several national and international committees regarding child health. Most recently, Freed was appointed to both the Committee on Pediatric Health and Health Care Quality Measures at the Institute of Medicine, and the Council on Management Information Services of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. He is a past chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Vaccine Advisory Committee.
Project: Freed's project is a comparative analysis of health care workforce for children in the U.S. and Australia. This will provide for the opportunity to contrast the challenges and successes of each system in providing care to this important segment of the population. It will also ensure that the unique needs of the child population are not lost in the emphasis on the growing aging population. Results of this study will help Australian and U.S. health policy makers, health services researchers, and medical professional societies better understand additional options available for future health care workforce planning. Individuals and institutions in each country would be able to assess potential strategies to address common problems with regard to the organization and structure of the healthcare workforce for children. Finally, exploration of different methods of health care workforce research will allow Freed to share these methods with researchers in each country.
Career Activity Since Fellowship: Following his Fellowship, Freed was given a three year appointment as the director of the Health Systems and Workforce Unit at the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. Freed is also a visiting senior scholar at the Royal Children's Hospital. He has received grant support from the State of Victoria Department of Health, 3 Medicare Locals (federal funds) and the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation to conduct studies on the following:
- Factors influencing ED utilization
- Actual availability of GP services for same day appointments
- Patterns of ED utilization across the age spectrum
- Factors influencing specialty referral for pediatric care
Current Position:
- Director, Health Systems and Workforce Unit, Center for Health Policy, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
- The Percy and Mary Murphy Professor of Pediatrics, Senior Advisor, Division of General Pediatrics, University of Michigan Health System
- Senior Advisor, Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit, University of Michigan Health System
Email: [email protected]
Fellowship-Related Publications
Freed GL, Spike NA, Sewell JR, Moran LM, Britt H, Valenti L, Brooks P. Changes in longer consultations for children in general practice. J Paediatr Child Health. 2013
Freed GL, Sewell J, Spike N, Brooks P, Moran L. “Changes in the demography of Australia and of general practitioner patient populations.” Aust Fam Physician, 2012
Freed GL, Spike N, Magin P, Morgan S, Fitzgerald M, Brooks P. “The paediatric clinical experiences of general practice registrars.” Aust Fam Physician, 2012
Freed GL, Sewell JR, Spike NA. “Editorial: Challenges to children’s health care in an ageing Australia.” Medical Journal of Australia, 2011.