Congressional Budget Office Leader James Baumgardner, PhD, Joins Precision Health Economics Team

LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Precision Health Economics (PHE), a Precision for Medicine company, announced today the hiring of James Baumgardner, PhD, as Senior Research Economist. Joining PHE from his post as Deputy Assistant Director in the Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis Division of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Mr. Baumgardner brings unique experiences and perspectives to the complex and challenging problems PHE addresses in its work on health economics and policy. PHE is focused on the critical issues in health and healthcare delivery: objective determination of value and measurable improvement in patient outcomes.

Mr. Baumgardner has held leadership positions for most of his 20 years at the CBO, working on legislative initiatives affecting Medicare, the regulation of employment-based and individually purchased health plans, graduate medical education, the costs of insurance coverage, health improvements in the population, and Medicare's prescription drug program. Prior to his time at CBO, he was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Duke University. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

"Jim's depth of experience in economic analyses at a senior level include having studied some of the most important federal health policies in the past 20 years, including the Affordable Care Act and changes to Medicare," said PHE's Chief Operating Officer Ross Maclean.  "He is well-positioned to bring significant leadership and insight to the academically oriented work of PHE."

Mr. Baumgardner further strengthens PHE's industry-leading intellectual capital in health economics and health policy. PHE's growing roster of nationally recognized experts allows the firm to offer "academic insights at the speed of business" for clients seeking new ways to demonstrate the value of their commercial health technologies.

"I have built a strong record in a high-pressure environment requiring the capacity and creativity to learn about varied issue areas and develop appropriate quantitative analyses with available evidence," Mr. Baumgardner said. "I am looking forward to bringing an understanding of how the regulatory process works to help PHE's clients who are seeking to quantify the value of their products."

About Precision Health Economics
Precision Health Economics integrates deep technical expertise with practical insights to bring intellectual integrity, academic rigor, and a creative approach to the most challenging problems in healthcare. In addition to its world-renowned team of health economists, PHE draws on the expertise of a network of affiliated academic scientists and clinicians from the world's leading universities, straddling the policy and clinical arenas to reach top decision makers and influence outcomes. The company has offices in Austin, TX, Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Oakland, CA.  For more information, go to www.precisionhealtheconomics.com.

About Precision for Medicine
Formed in 2012, Precision for Medicine is a specialized services company supporting next generation approaches to drug development and commercialization. It provides integrated services and infrastructure to support pharmaceutical and life sciences companies as they develop new products in the age of precision medicine. Precision for Medicine brings expertise, technology, and project execution to support innovative, patient-centric solutions from discovery through commercialization. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, MD, with offices in Cambridge, MA, Chicago, IL, Frederick, MD, Gladstone, NJ, Indianapolis, IN, New York, NY, and Stamford, CT. For more information, visit www.precisionformedicine.com.

SOURCE Precision Health Economics