Kara Gavin
Research and Policy Media Relations Manager
Gavin draws on more than 25 years of experience in communicating about science, medicine and health policy. She focuses mainly on the health services research done by members of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, who work to understand and improve the safety, quality, equity and affordability of health care. As part of the Michigan Medicine communication team, she has lead responsibility for primary care and mental health topics. Contact: [email protected]; Twitter: @Karag
Health Lab
Can’t Resist Tempting Food? Scientists Explore Why
Animal-based neuroscience research on the parts of the brain involved in responding to food cues may inform understanding of human overeating and addiction
Health Lab
“Leaky” Primary Care Means Higher ACO Costs
Accountable Care Organizations aim to save Medicare system money while improving care, but patients who go out of network for primary appointments may see higher costs.
Health Lab
1 in 5 Operations May Lead to “Surprise” Bills – Even When In-Network, Study Finds
Surprise billing for common operations may happen to 1 in 5 patients, even when the surgeon they chose for their surgery is in-network for their health insurance.
Health Lab
Middle-Aged Adults Worried About Health Insurance Costs Now, Uncertain for Future
Health insurance costs weigh heavily on many people in their 50s and early 60s, and even more are concerned about affording healthcare when they retire.
Health Lab
What’s Threatening Access to a Key Tool in Fighting the Opioid Epidemic?
Buprenorphine is an effective treatment of opioid use disorder, including addiction to painkillers and heroin. A bill in Congress aims to close a legal loophole that affects products containing it.
Health Lab
Jump in Employment Seen Among Medicaid Expansion Enrollees, Especially the Most Vulnerable
Low income people enrolled in the Healthy Michigan Plan, a Medicaid expansion program, experienced a rise in employment and student status larger than the statewide average.
Health Lab
Costs Getting in the Way of Care: 20 Years Later
Twenty years ago, research on the health impacts of being uninsured helped build the momentum that led to the Affordable Care Act. But new research shows that accessing care is still unaffordable for many, even after the ACA.
Health Lab
How Academic Medical Centers Came to Be
Institutions, called academic medical centers, combine patient care, medical and health sciences education and biomedical research. A brief history of their origins at the University of Michigan.
Health Lab
Rise of the Robots: Study Shows Rapid Increase in Surgeons Opting for Robotic Help
Surge in robotic surgery in 2010s outpaces the evidence for its effects on patients and costs, researchers warn.
Health Lab
Overdose Rates Are Higher, but Opioid Addiction Care Is Harder to Find in Medicaid Work Requirement States
Medicaid work requirements often offer exemptions for people in addiction recovery or with a substance use disorder diagnosis. But addiction treatment may be scarce in these states, especially for opioid addiction.
Health Lab
Helping Patients Prep Mind and Body for Surgery Pays Off, Study Suggests
Surgical prehabilitation program that encouraged health risk reduction and positive psychology was associated with lower length of stay and costs after operations of high-risk patients.
Medicine at Michigan
$10M from Tam Foundation
Gift will expand and harness the power of massive data to help bipolar patients
Medicine at Michigan
$10M Gift Will Fuel U-M Efforts to Improve the World’s Health
Tadataka and Leslie Yamada’s gift will establish the U-M Center for Global Health Equity
Health Lab
This Drug Could Save Their Lives, But Less Than 2% Get It
Prescribing guidelines recommend the opioid overdose rescue drug naloxone for anyone taking high-dose prescription opioids, overdose survivors and people with opioid addiction. A new study shows few receive it.
Health Lab
Older Adults Use Online Physician Ratings, but View Them Cautiously, Poll Shows
Online reviews giving recommendations about doctors are viewed by older adults looking to choose a physician, but they factor them in with word-of- mouth reputation and more.
