the continuing saga of hospital merger enforcement

Laura Kmitch is a PhD student in the Department of Population Health Sciences. Her research interests are varied and include health policy, healthcare interventions, program evaluation, implementation science, healthcare quality, access, social determinants of health, maternal and women's health, healthcare competition, and Real-World Evidence. She is passionate about applying health data to public health issues and developing incentives to effectively optimize patient interactions with the healthcare system. Recent projects have included investigating contraceptive use in all-payer claims data, evaluating the impact of a PCP-based pharmacist intervention on patients with uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes, supporting a community advisory board in a clinical trial focused on Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN), developing training case studies about pragmatic trials and employing Real-World Evidence, and a qualitative study of patient experiences with a produce prescription program. 

Laura has worked extensively in the area of healthcare competition and has provided consulting support, performed economic and statistical analyses, and led teams in reviewing and analyzing large, complex data sets including claims data, EHR data, and administrative data. She has led the expert support teams for multiple hospital litigations, including Jefferson-Enstein, CVS-Aetna (Tunney Act hearing), Hershery-Pinnacle, and Phoebe Putney-Palmyra.  As a manger a Bates White Economic Consulting, her experience also includes supporting testifying experts and private companies through all phases of government investigations and litigation. She also worked as a Research Analyst in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where worked on numerous merger investigations across a wide swath of industries, including hospitals, outpatient centers, physicians, biologics, pharmaceuticals, and retail. Most recently, Laura was the Director of Applied Analytics at a health technology startup focused on quantifying the impact of SDOH on health outcomes and utilization.

Her research has been mentioned in The New York Times and published in the Antitrust Law Journal and the Journal of Competition Law and Economics. She earned a MS in Population Health Sciences at Duke University as well as a BA in economics and a BS in business from the University of Maryland.