Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD
Marilyn Fisher Blanch Research Professor of Child Health Policy
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Associate Professor, Department of Health Management and Policy
Director, Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center
Biography
Dr. Kao-Ping Chua is a primary care pediatrician and health services researcher who serves as the Director of the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center at the University of Michigan Medical School. After completing the Boston Combined Residency in Pediatrics, he obtained a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University, with a focus on the empirical methods used in policy evaluation.
Dr. Chua’s research focuses on slowing the U.S. opioid epidemic, improving the affordability of health care, reducing the use of low-value care, and identifying emerging trends in health care utilization among children and young adults. He is the recipient of the Academic Pediatric Association Young Investigator Award and the AcademyHealth Nemours Child Health Services Research Award. His studies have been published in high-impact journals such as NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Pediatrics, and Pediatrics, and have been covered by national media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, and NPR.
Education
PhD, Health Policy (Evaluative Sciences and Statistics concentration), Harvard University, 2015
MD, Washington University School of Medicine, 2007
BS, Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, 2002, summa cum laude
Projects
Selected Publications
Opioid Prescribing
Pediatric Opioid Prescribing
Chua KP, Shrime MG, Conti RM. Effect of FDA Investigation on Opioid Prescribing to Children After Tonsillectomy/Adenoidectomy. Pediatrics. 2017;140(6):e20171765. doi:10.1542/peds.2017-1765
Chua KP, Brummett CM, Conti RM, Bohnert A. Association of Opioid Prescribing Patterns With Prescription Opioid Overdose in Adolescents and Young Adults. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(2):141-148. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.4878
Chua KP, Brummett CM, Conti RM, Bohnert AS. Opioid Prescribing to US Children and Young Adults in 2019. Pediatrics. 2021;148(3):e2021051539. doi:10.1542/peds.2021-051539
Opioid Prescribing Limits
Chua KP, Brummett CM, Waljee JF. Opioid Prescribing Limits for Acute Pain: Potential Problems With Design and Implementation. JAMA. 2019;321(7):643-644. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.0010
Dental Opioid Prescribing
Chua KP, Kenney BC, Waljee JF, Brummett CM, Nalliah RP. Dental Opioid Prescriptions and Overdose Risk in Patients and Their Families. Am J Prev Med. 2021;61(2):165-173. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.02.008
Surgical Opioid Prescribing
Waljee JF, Gunaseelan V, Bicket MC, Brummett CM, Chua KP. Safety and Distribution of Opioid Prescribing by U.S. Surgeons. Ann Surg. 2023;277(6):944-951. doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000005802
Other Opioid Prescribing Studies
Chua KP, Brummett CM, Ng S, Bohnert ASB. Association Between Receipt of Overlapping Opioid and Benzodiazepine Prescriptions From Multiple Prescribers and Overdose Risk. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(8):e2120353. Published 2021 Aug 2. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.20353
Out-of-pocket spending
Chua KP, Lee JM, Conti RM. Out-of-Pocket Spending for Insulin, Diabetes-Related Supplies, and Other Health Care Services Among Privately Insured US Patients With Type 1 Diabetes. JAMA Intern Med. 2020;180(7):1012-1014. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1308
Chua KP, Fendrick AM, Conti RM, Moniz MH. Out-of-Pocket Spending for Deliveries and Newborn Hospitalizations Among the Privately Insured. Pediatrics. 2021;148(1):e2021050552. doi:10.1542/peds.2021-050552
Chua KP, Conti RM, Becker NV. Assessment of Out-of-Pocket Spending for COVID-19 Hospitalizations in the US in 2020. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(10):e2129894. Published 2021 Oct 1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.29894
Chua KP, Conti RM, Lagisetty P, Bohnert AS, He S, Nguyen TD. Association Between Cost Sharing and Naloxone Prescription Dispensing. JAMA. 2024;332(2):124-132. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.8378
Low Value Care
Chua KP, Schwartz AL, Volerman A, Conti RM, Huang ES. Use of Low-Value Pediatric Services Among the Commercially Insured. Pediatrics. 2016;138(6):e20161809. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1809
Chua KP, Fischer MA, Linder JA. Appropriateness of outpatient antibiotic prescribing among privately insured US patients: ICD-10-CM based cross sectional study. BMJ. 2019;364:k5092. Published 2019 Jan 16. doi:10.1136/bmj.k5092
Chua KP, Conti RM, Becker NV. US Insurer Spending on Ivermectin Prescriptions for COVID-19. JAMA. 2022;327(6):584-587. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24352
Medications for opioid use disorder
Chua KP, Dahlem CHY, Nguyen TD, Brummett CM, Conti RM, Bohnert AS, Dora-Laskey AD, Kocher KE. Naloxone and Buprenorphine Prescribing Following US Emergency Department Visits for Suspected Opioid Overdose: August 2019 to April 2021. Ann Emerg Med. 2022;79(3):225-236. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.10.005
Chua KP, Bicket MC, Bohnert ASB, Conti RM, Lagisetty P, Nguyen TD. Buprenorphine Dispensing after Elimination of the Waiver Requirement. N Engl J Med. 2024;390(16):1530-1532. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2312906
Access to healthcare
Chua KP, Sommers BD. Changes in health and medical spending among young adults under health reform. JAMA. 2014;311(23):2437-2439. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.2202
Pediatrics
Chua KP, Conti RM, Freed GL. Appropriately Framing Child Health Care Spending: A Prerequisite for Value Improvement. JAMA. 2018;319(11):1087-1088. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0014
Lee JM, Sharifi M, Oshman L, Griauzde DH, Chua KP. Dispensing of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists to Adolescents and Young Adults, 2020-2023. JAMA. 2024;331(23):2041-2043. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.7112