Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH)

JIM BUTLER
BEcon, MPolEcon, PhD(UQ)
ACERH Director and Professor
T: +61 2 6125 3688
E: Jim.Butler@anu.edu.au

Professor Butler is a health economist and foundation Director of ACERH. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Queensland and over 25 years research experience in health economics. He also has extensive teaching experience in health economics, including a PhD course in health economics during a six-month appointment as Associate Professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Butler also has extensive consulting experience, having undertaken projects for numerous government bodies and private sector organisations, including the World Bank. His research interests include health insurance, health care financing, hospitals costs and economic evaluation. In recent years, his work on health insurance has included projects on factors affecting the demand for private health insurance in Australia, and on genetic testing, health insurance and life insurance. He has also worked on public policy towards private health insurance, and on private hospital payment schemes for private health insurers. With his colleagues in ACERH, Professor Butler is currently working on the inclusion of data from several private health insurers into the Western Australian/Commonwealth longitudinal linked administrative data on health and health care utilisation. The resulting dataset will open up new avenues for applied health economics research in Australia.

Selected Publications

Cheung WY, Butler J, Kliewer E, Demers A, Musto G and Navaratnam S, "Use of health administrative databases in the analysis of waiting times and costs for the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)", (Abstract) Journal of Clinical Oncology , 2006 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings (Post-Meeting Edition), Vol.24 No.18S (Supplement), June 20 2006, p.6042.

Korda RJ and Butler JRG, "Effect of healthcare on mortality: Trends in avoidable mortality in Australia and comparisons with Western Europe ", Public Health, Vol.20 No.2, February 2006, pp.95-105.

Korda RJ and Butler JRG, "Trends in pneumonia rates explained by changes in coding practices" (letter), Internal Medicine Journal , Vol.35 No.2, February 2005, pp.138-9.

Butler JRG, Pianko S, Korda RJ, Nguyen S, Gow P, Roberts SK, Strasser SI, and Sievert W, "The direct cost of managing patients with chronic hepatitis B infection in Australia", Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology , Vol.38 No.10, November/December 2004, pp.S187-S192.

Butler JRG, McIntyre P, MacIntyre CR, Gilmour R, Howarth AL and Sander B, "The cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in Australia", Vaccine, Vol.22 Nos 9-10, 2004, pp.1138-49.

Connelly LB, Butler JRG, Brown HS and Sidorenko AA, "Health care financing and private health insurance in Australia ", Geneva Association Information Newsletter - Health and Ageing , No.11, October 2004, pp.4-8.

Drummond C and Butler JRG, "The cost of treating mycobacterium ulcerans : Evidence from Australia ", Emerging Infectious Diseases , Vol.10 No.6, June 2004, pp.1038-43.

Butler JRG, "A comment on the response from Graham Wright" (letter), Australian Health Review , Vol.26 No.1, March 2003, pp.33-41.

Butler JRG, "Adverse selection, genetic testing and life insurance - lessons from health insurance in Australia ", Agenda , Vol.10 No.1, 2003, pp.73-89.

Butler JRG, "Policy change and private health insurance: Did the cheapest policy do the trick?", Australian Health Review , Vol.25 No.6, December 2002, pp.33-41.

Butler JRG, "Economic Evaluations of Screening Programs: A Review of Methods and Results", Clinica Chimica Acta, Vol.315 Nos 1-2, 2002, pp.31-40.

Butler JRG, "Public health programs to reduce HIV/AIDS" in P Abelson (ed.) Returns on Investment in Public Health: An Epidemiological and Economic Analysis , Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra , 2002.

Butler JRG and Howarth AL, "Cost-effectiveness analysis" in National Health and Medical Research Council, Guidelines on the Prophylactic Use of RhD Immunoglobulin (Anti-D) in Obstetrics , NHMRC, Canberra, 1999, pp.93-178.

Butler JRG, "Estimating elasticities of demand for private health insurance in Australia", Working Paper No.43, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, May 1999.

Butler JRG, "Health Expenditure" in Mooney GH and Scotton RB (eds) Economics and Australian Health Policy , Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1998, pp.40-71.