Kai Yeung, PharmD, PhD, is a pharmacist and pharmaceutical economist with expertise in patient medication-use behaviors, insurance design, and outcomes research. His objective is to develop and evaluate incentives to encourage high-value use of health care services. Dr. Yeung has conducted research evaluating policies focused on specialty drug access, value-based insurance design, the consequences of insurance switching, and financial incentives. He combines applied econometric and cost-effectiveness analysis tools with a clinical understanding of prescription drugs and health insurance design to gain new insights in these areas.
Dr. Yeung has a line of research on designing and evaluating policies that align patient prescription drug out-of-pocket costs with estimated value using cost-effectiveness analysis. He has used econometric methods to quantify the impact of a value-based formulary on patient medication-utilization behavior, health outcomes and health care expenditures from patient and health care payer perspectives. For this work, Dr. Yeung successfully competed for two research grants: a multidisciplinary research training grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a health services research dissertation grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Different parts of this project were recognized by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 2014 and 2015 annual meetings as the best student podium presentation award, and the Vancouver Health Economics Methodology 2016 meeting as the best student paper award. Dr. Yeung continues to innovate in the generation and evaluation of this type of benefit design.
Dr. Yeung received his PhD in pharmaceutical economics from the Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute at the University of Washington and his PharmD from the University of Southern California. During his PharmD training, Dr. Yeung cultivated a broad perspective on the expanded use of evidence and analytics in decision-making, giving him experience in working with a diverse group of health care stakeholders, including:
Pharmacy benefit design, applied econometrics, healthcare costs, value-based insurance design, cost-effectiveness analysis, behavioral economics, alternative payment models, health policy evaluation
Pharmacoepidemiology of opioid use, identification of early onset Alzheimer’s disease
Design and evaluation of incentives for medication adherence
Patient and physician shared savings models to incentivize healthy behavior
Prevention and treatment
Yeung K, Ulloa E. Incentivizing prescription drug switching to reduce patient and health plan spending: a microsimulation model. Value Health. 2022;25(3):427-434. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2021.08.012. Epub 2021 Oct 1. PubMed
Yeung K, Zhu W, McCurry SM, Von Korff M, Wellman R, Morin CM, Vitiello MV. Cost-effectiveness of telephone cognitive behavioral therapy for osteoarthritis-related insomnia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Oct 11. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17469. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Vitiello MV, Zhu W, Von Korff M, Wellman R, Morin CM, Yeung K, McCurry SM. Short-term improvements in insomnia or pain predict long-term improvements in sleep, pain, depression, and fatigue in older adults with co-morbid osteoarthritis pain and insomnia. Sleep. 2021 Sep 13:zsab231. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsab231. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Brouwer E, Yeung K, Barthold D, Hansen R. Characterizing patient assistance program use and patient responsiveness to specialty drug price for multiple sclerosis in a mid-size integrated health system. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2021;27(6):732-742. doi: 10.18553/jmcp.2021.27.6.732. PubMed
Yeung K, Dusetzina SB. Prescription drug out-of-pocket cost reduction programs: incentives and implications. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Jun 1;181(6):765-766. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.0739. PubMed
A team led by KPWHRI's Kai Yeung, PharmD, PhD, reviewed trial results for cost-effectiveness of 3 treatments.
A study among KP members with sleep problems and osteoarthritis shows promise for overcoming obstacles to treatment.
Now more than ever we can benefit from studies embedded in health-care systems to answer common clinical questions.
Physicians Weekly, April 1, 2021