Today@Dal

The Research Assistant (RA) will work within a two projects that focus on the effects of physician payments on health care utilization. The projects rely on administrative billings claims data from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The project has two components: (i) the assessment of the impact of a new fee introduced in 1999; and (ii) the assessment of the impact of new fees / bonus payments introduced in 2009. The first components is near completion, the second is in proposal stages.

Responsibilities

The RA will be involved in literature review, research planning, administration of data requests, and potential merging of data. Specifically the RA will (with guidance):
Search, select, and summarize literature related to physician payments and the effects on utilization (for the manuscript in progress, and the research proposal);
Summarize methodologies used in the literature to inform the new research proposal;
Understand and navigate the administrative requirements associated with data access in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick;
Merge billings data from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick;
The RA will be handling confidential data and will be expected to sign required confidentiality agreements and to act in accordance with such agreements. The RA is expected to keep regular work hours on the Dalhousie University campus.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate must have a graduate level degree, or be in the final stages of completing a graduate level degree, in economics, epidemiology, or another health related quantitatively oriented discipline. The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills both verbally and in writing, and be sufficiently organized to conduct the required work with minimal supervision.

To apply, please forward your application letter, current CV, and the names of at least two referees who can speak to your research to Dominika Wranik at dwl@dal.ca. Put RA Application Physician Fees in the subject line. Deadline is March 31st, 2016. I will contact only successful candidates.