The Gardner Policy Institute employs a senior health care analyst and a team of economists knowledgeable about Utah’s health care policies and economy. We also benefit from a Health Care Advisory Council that guides our research agenda and supports the development of a health care policy practice area. Our research focus areas include, but are not limited to: (1) analyzing state and national health care trends and evaluating their impact on Utah; (2) collaborating with health care experts and community leaders to analyze relevant health care policy; and (3) conducting research and preparing data on Utah’s health care industry.

Recent Publications

2022

• Utah’s Life Sciences Workforce and Industry Growth: 2012-2021
• Blog: The Rise and Stall of Utah Life Expectancy
• Blog: Utah’s Infant Mortality Rate
• Blog: The Intersection of Housing and Health Care
• Utah’s Invisible Workforce: The Economic Contributions and Health Impacts of Family Caregiving
• Blog: COVID-19 Rankings: Where does Utah Stand?
• A Roadmap for Improving Utah’s Behavioral Health System: 2021 End-of-Year Update (Utah Hospital Association)
• A Pathway for Improving Early Childhood Mental Health in Utah (The Children’s Center Utah)
• Blog: Oral Health in Utah
• Blog: Trends Affecting Employment in Utah’s Health Care and Social Assistance Industry

2021

• Blog: The Great Resignation: How Has it Impacted Utah’s Health Care Industry to Date?
• Curbing the Youth Vaping Pandemic: A Review of How Utah’s Laws and Policies Compare Nationally and to Other States
• Blog: The Clash of the Pandemics: The Need for Chronic Disease Prevention
• Fact Sheet: Family Caregivers in Utah
• Preparing for the Future: The Potential Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Utah’s Child and Youth Mental Health
• The Connection between COVID-19 and Type 2 Diabetes: Underscoring the Need for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management
• Blog: Utah’s Uninsured Population May Look Different After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends
• Blog: Diversity in Utah’s Health Care Workforce
• Diversity in Utah Data Book: Race, Ethnicity, and Sex
• Blog: COVID-19 Care Delays: Slowly Returning to Normal?
• Blog: The Impact of COVID-19 on Utah’s Health Care and Social Assistance Industry

2020

• Blog: What’s on the Horizon for Health Care in 2021?
• Early Childhood Mental Health in Utah
• Blog: Who’s at Risk for COVID-19?
• Blog: The Short- and Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Utah’s Health and Health Care Industry
• Blog: Helping Prevent Type 2 Diabetes, One State at a Time
• Blog: Addressing Opioid Use Disorder During COVID-19
• Moving Toward Evidence-Based Programs: Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Utah
• Blog: The Best Preparation? Arming Yourself with Good Information
• A Roadmap for Improving Utah’s Behavioral Health System (Utah Hospital Association)
• Blog: Finally, Some Good News on Health Care Costs

2019

• Blog: Utah’s Air Quality: Zeroing in on Health Impacts
• Utah’s Mental Health System
• Blog: Utah’s Mental Health Challenges are Significant, but there is a Silver Lining
• 2019 Rural Health Convening (Intermountain Healthcare Convening Proceedings)
• Blog: As National Health Care Hiring Continues to Slide, Where does Utah Stand?
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: Utah’s Future Health Care Needs
• The Root of the Issue: America’s Social Determinants of Health (Hatch Center Symposium Proceedings)
• Blog: Medical Inflation in Utah: The Ups and Downs of Data and Measurement
• Blog: Using Medicaid to Pay for What?

2018

• Blog: What’s Being Said About Utah?
• Blog: Utah Foundation’s Health Cost Series examines cost drivers
• The Root of the Issue: Utah’s Social Determinants of Health Symposium Proceedings
• Social Determinants of Health: A National Perspective
• Social Determinants of Health: Data Points
• Blog: Utah’s Social Determinants of Health: An Economic and Humanitarian Imperative
• Blog: The Utah Approach to Health Care Reform
• Economic Impacts of Utah’s Life Sciences Industry
• Blog: Utah’s Expanding Medicaid Coverage
• Utah’s Expanding Medicaid Coverage: Three Scenarios
• Fact Sheet: The Economic Contribution of Utah’s Life Science Industry