Curt D. Mueller Joins NORC at the University of Chicago as the Newest Senior Fellow in Public Health
CHICAGO, Dec. 20, 2018 – Curt D. Mueller, an authority in rural health policy research, has joined NORC at the University of Chicago as a senior fellow in the Public Health department.
Having spent a portion of his extensive tenure as a senior research scientist with NORC in the early 2000s, in this role Mueller will conduct research on rural health care markets and the impacts of Medicare payment policies on rural areas, as well as evaluating rural health programs.
Mueller brings more than 30 years of experience working and collaborating with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other government research organizations including the HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). As a partner in the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare—a federally funded research and development center—Mueller documents and analyzes Medicare patients’ avoidance of rural hospitals, and studies if it’s possible to enhance access while containing costs in these markets.
“Our department has been making great strides in the rural health policy sector, and having Curt as part of our team will only accelerate our work,” said Caitlin Oppenheimer, senior vice president of the Public Health group. “With the deep knowledge and experience he brings from his days with CMS and the FORHP, we look forward to Curt’s contributions as NORC continues to move the needle in industry.”
Most recently, Mueller was director of Research and Evaluation at HRSA’s FORHP. His responsibilities included advising senior leadership, overseeing development of in-house and extramural research and evaluation, and reviewing research designs and methods employed by FORHP-funded Rural Health Policy Research Centers.
“I’m excited to be back at NORC to join a team that has made so many meaningful contributions to health policy research,” said Mueller. “While the industry overall has made great progress in the rural health care space, there’s still so much to be done. I’m thrilled to be part of an organization that leverages non-partisan research that has the ability to affect public health across populations who need it most.”
Mueller has co-authored articles that have appeared in leading publications such as Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Medicare and Medicaid Research Review, and Journal of Rural Health. He is a member of the American Economic Association, American Evaluation Association, and Washington Evaluators.
“Our department has been making great strides in the rural health policy sector, and having Curt as part of our team will only accelerate our work.”
About NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.
Contact: For more information, please contact Eric Young at NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell).