Susan Chimonas, PhD

Qualitative Research Consultant, Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Susan is a sociologist at the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She has over 20 years of experience in qualitative and mixed methods research. Her methodological expertise includes conducting and analyzing interviews, focus groups, usability tests, surveys, policy analysis, and other approaches. A national expert on physician-industry relationships, Susan’s research on conflict of interest has explored transparency’s potential for ensuring public trust and driving positive change in the health care system. As a member of the Drug Pricing Lab, she is contributing critical methodological and other intellectual expertise to several projects that aim to shed new light on drug pricing issues and develop unbiased resources for policymakers, journalists, and the wider public. She is a recent winner of the John A. Benson, Jr. Professionalism Article Prize for her article “Bringing Transparency to Medicine: Exploring Physicians’ Views and Experiences of the Sunshine Act.”

Focus Areas

Pharmaceutical industry
Conflicts of interest in medicine
Health care policy
Patient perspectives
Research methodologies
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Research & Insights

We conduct non-partisan, independent research, and make our work accessible and informative to policymakers and the general audience alike. Browse our featured research or explore our work by article type.

Evaluating Industry’s Drug Pricing Claims
A closer look at three of PhRMA’s most cited talking points.
Drug Pricing Lab 11/18/2021
Mapping conflict of interests: scoping review
A scoping review of the literature to identify all known ties between the medical product industry and the parties and activities in the healthcare ecosystem.
Drug Pricing Lab 11/03/2021
Value-Based Management of Specialty Drugs: Practical Considerations and Implications for…
Not all approaches are suited to meeting policy makers and health plans’ goals of managing specialty drugs based on their value. Researchers conducted a qualitative study with Blue Cross Blue Shield plans interested in implementing value-based specialty pharmacy management to observe the plans’ objectives, strategies, and factors influencing their ability to execute on these strategies.
AJMC 05/13/2021
Priceless Knowledge: Attitudes and Awareness Around Drug Pricing Among US…
Medical students' education covers topics spanning health, disease, and treatment, but what about drug pricing and their role as prescribers?
Medical Science Educator 01/13/2021
Xeljanz, the FDA, and nine years of patient harm
Quantifying population-level adverse events in the near decade between when safety concerns were identified and FDA action
Drug Pricing Lab 05/31/2022
Atypical antipsychotics: Decades of use, unfathomable harms
Using attributable risk calculations to quantify how many premature deaths resulted from atypical antipsychotic use in the elderly
Drug Pricing Lab 05/31/2022
Medicare Part B Premium Dynamics Explained
The Drug Pricing Lab commissioned Milliman to prepare a report exploring the impact of changes in Medicare Part B program costs on beneficiaries’ premiums and Social Security payments. This report focuses on the 2022 Part B premium for beneficiaries with various income levels to illustrate the payment dynamics and discusses the implications for related programs.
Milliman 12/23/2021
Comparing Factors that Influence Pharmaceutical Pricing and Access in the…
Drug prices in the United States are some of the highest in the world, which has triggered several policy proposals aimed at adopting pricing strategies used by other countries.
Drug Pricing Lab 12/20/2021
Biosimilars in Medicare Part D: pricing dynamics and considerations
The Drug Pricing Lab engaged Milliman to prepare a report summarizing the pricing dynamics affecting utilization of biosimilars in the current Medicare Part D marketplace and under the proposed Part D benefit design in the Build Back Better Act.

This report was commissioned by the Drug Pricing Lab.
Milliman 12/14/2021
Production Plus Profit Pricing (P-quad) FAQ
08/17/2021
What A Waste! The National Academy Of Medicine’s Report On…
Why Congress should not follow the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s recommendation to remove the JW modifier.
Health Affairs Blog 07/09/2021
Medicare Must Study Unproven, Expensive Alzheimer’s Drug
Medicare cannot indiscriminately cover the cost of Aduhelm for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease without first evaluating whether it truly works.
Bloomberg Opinion 06/15/2021

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The Drug Pricing Lab’s team brings together tremendous experience in medicine, economics, consulting, sociology, and finance.
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