Personalizing Health Care with Economics

Experiments and clinical trials are the "gold standard’’ for evidence in economics and medicine. It is straightforward to analyze them to determine the average impact of a treatment. However, even if a treatment helps patients on average, it is much more difficult to determine if it will help all patients equally. Using methods from economics, I re-analyze data from experiments and clinical trials with the goal of personalizing recommendations. As an economist, I take into account not only whether the recommendations are sound, but also who will follow them.