Placement: Brown University and Columbia University
Co-Mentors: Yashaswini Singh, MPA, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University
Michael Sparer, JD, PhD, Professor, Health Policy and Management and Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Project: The Impact of Private Equity Ownership on the Provision of Equitable and High-Value Care
Rocco Friebel, PhD, is a 2025–26 U.K. Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice. He is an associate professor of health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he also serves as deputy director of LSE Health and director of the Global Surgery Policy Unit — a strategic partnership between LSE and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His research focuses on the economics of health system delivery, health care regulation, and quality improvement. He is the program director of the Executive MSc in Healthcare Decision-Making, delivered in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Friebel is editor-in-chief of health economics, policy and law (Cambridge University Press), a steering committee member of the European Health Policy Group, and founder and host of LSE’s HealthTalks podcast series. He regularly advises international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and has contributed to global policy, including the development of metrics for integrated emergency, critical, and operative care under World Health Assembly Resolution 76.2. He earned his PhD in health economics from Imperial College London and previously worked as a senior analyst at the Health Foundation.
Project Overview: Friebel’s project will examine the impact of private equity (PE) ownership on equitable health care access and quality in the United States, with implications for England’s National Health Service (NHS). Using quantitative methods, he will analyze Medicare inpatient data and the American Hospital Association Survey to construct a local hospital segregation index to assess disparities in patient demographics served by PE-owned hospitals. A regional segregation metric will further quantify disparities across larger health care networks. Additionally, the study will evaluate the prevalence of low-value care in PE-owned hospitals by identifying specific procedures from NHS England’s Evidence-Based Interventions list. Statistical analyses, including causal inference through staggered difference-in-difference methods, will assess the impact of PE ownership from market entry to exit. Findings will provide insights for policymakers on safeguarding equitable care access amid growing PE investments in health care, informing regulation to balance financial incentives with patient-centered care.