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J.B. Silvers

John R. Mannix Professor of Healthcare Finance Emeritus
Weatherhead School of Management
Professor Emeritus
Department of Banking & Finance
Weatherhead School of Management

J.B. Silvers, PhD most recently served as the Interim Co-Dean of Weatherhead School of Management prior to his retirement. His research in the areas of financial management and health services has been published in numerous academic journals including the Journal of Finance, Financial Management, Journal of the American Medical Association, Medical Care, Annals of Family Medicine, the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, plus in news publications including the New York Times, MarketWatch, Crain’s Cleveland Business, the Plain Dealer and others. Silvers also contributes commentary to NPR’s Marketplace and other national and local print and broadcast media.

Professionally, Silvers has testified to Congress, several state legislatures, federal and state courts. He has also served on committees at the National Academies of Science and several national and state commissions, was a board member (12 years) and treasurer of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (TJC/JCAHO) and a board member of SummaCare Insurance Company (14 years). For seven years Silvers was a commissioner on the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (now MedPAC) advising Congress on Medicare payment. For five years, he served on the Board of Mathematical Sciences and their Applications at the National Academy of Science. From 1996 to 2004, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar. Earlier in his career, he held appointments on the business school faculty of Stanford, Harvard and Indiana.

From 1997 to 2000, while on leave, he was President and CEO of QualChoice Health Plan and Insurance Company (a former subsidiary of University Hospitals of Cleveland). He has served on the MetroHealth System board, Weatherhead Department Chair of Banking and Finance, Associate Dean, Senior Associate Dean and Interim Dean.

Initially Appointed: 1979

Curriculum Vita

Education

PhD
Stanford University
1971
MS
Purdue University
1966
BS
Purdue University
1965

Teaching Information

Teaching Interests

  • Health finance
  • Strategic financial management and value creation
  • Health policy and management decisions

Course evaluation ratings (login required)

Courses Taught

  • Health Finance
  • Health Policy and Management Decisions
  • Healthcare Financial Management

Office Hours

By Appointment call 216.233.6087 (cell)

Research Information

Research Interests

  • Health Finance/insurance
  • Pharmaconomics
  • Public policy

Awards and Honors

  • Outstanding Board Director/Trustee
    2017
    Crain's Cleveland Business
  • Theodore M. Alfred Distinguished Service Faculty Award
    2013
    Weatherhead School of Management
  • 2009 Health Policy Research Award for Independent Scholarship (with Leona Cuttler, Andrew Gallan, Mendel Singer)
    2009
    Health Policy Institute of Ohio
  • Who's Who in America
    2002

External Appointments

  • Chairperson, Faculty Senate Finance/Budget Committee, 2011 - 2013
  • Committee Chair, Faculty Council, 2008 - 2009
  • Chairperson, Faculty Senate Budget Committee, 2008 - 2012
  • Task Force Member, American Dental Association, Chicago, Illinois, 2008
  • Member, Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications, National Academies of Science, 2007 - 2013
  • Member, Research Advisory Committee, Health Policy Institute of Ohio, 2006 - 2013
  • Officer, Treasurer, Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), 2003 - 2015
  • Board of Directors of a Company, SummaCare Health Plan, SummaCare Insurance Company, Akron, Ohio, 2002 - 2015
  •  

Publications

  • Silvers, J. (2022). In F. Gary & L. Lotas (Ed.)
    Health Policy and Finance Across Health Systems   New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co
  • Silvers, J. (2020).
    Our hospitals need a bailout to cure their coronavirus-induced financial crisis    MarketWatch
  • Silvers, J. (2019).
    This is the Most Realistic Path to Medicare for All    New York City: New York Times
  • Silvers, J. (2019).
    Health Care Price Transparency: Fool’s Gold, or Real Money in Your Pocket?
    New York City: MarketWatch and others
  • Silvers, J. (2019).
    Trump about-face on Affordable Care Act court case would damage health-care innovation, this ex-health insurance CEO says    New York City: MarketWatch, Conversation
  • Silvers, J. (2018).
    There’s more to health care access than pre-existing conditions    The Conversation, MarketWatch and others
  • Silvers, J. (2018).
    When Collaboration Beats Competition in Healthcare    Cleveland: Crain's Cleveland Business
  • Silvers, J. (2018).
    Why Amazon and Friends Plan Could be a Major Disrupter of the Health Care System    New York: Conversation, Marketwatch, Solon, etc (27,675 views)
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    Surprise! How Obamacare is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Medicaid    New York: Conversation, Marketwatch, etc (21,528 views)
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    Why 'Skinny' Obamacare Repeal is a Terrible Idea    New York: New York Times (circulation 571,500)
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    The 5 faulty beliefs that have led to Republican dysfunction on health care    New York: Conversation, Marketwatch, etc.
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    How Did Health Insurance Get So Complicated? Here Are Some Answers   New York: The Conversation, Business Insider, Huffington Post, etc.
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    Trump's threat over subsidies risks damaging Obamacare beyond repair    New York: MarketWatch (WSJ)
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    Trump's address to Congress: Expert reaction    New York: The Conversation, MarketWatch, etc.
  • Silvers, J. , Kozlenkova, I. , Cuttler, L. , Silvers, J. (2017). In https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw057 (Ed.)
    To Prescribe or Not To Prescribe? Surrogate Decision Making For Life-Enhancing Products   (vol. 43, issue 5, pp. 806-823)  Oxford, England: Journal of Consumer Research
  • Silvers, J. (2017).
    The GOP Health Care Death Spiral    New York: New York Times (circulation 571,500)
  • Silvers, J. (2016).
    As Republicans ready to dismantle ACA, insurers likely to bolt (pp. 2) The Conversation, MarketWatch, Business Insider, etc.
  • Silvers, J. (2016).
    Here’s how the next president could work with Congress to fix ObamaCare    The Conversation, MarketWatch, Business Insider, et al (18,011 views)
  • Silvers, J. (2016).
    Hiding our financing need within the insurance model  (69 ed.)  Harvard Law-The Week In Health Law: Harvard Law
  • Silvers, J. (2016).
    What’s ailing the ACA: Insurers or Congress?    The Conversation, Business Insider, etc. : The Conversation, Crain's Cleveland Business, MarketWatch, Business Insider, et al
  • Silvers, J. (2014).
    Overcoming History    Washington, DC: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation AF4Q Annual Meeting
  • Silvers, J. (2013).
    Over 15 interviews with Marketplace (APM/NPR) in 2013-18   
  • Silvers, J. (2013).
    The Affordable Care Act: Objectives & Likely Results in an Imperfect World   (vol. 2013, pp. 402-405) Annals of Family Medicine
  • Silvers, J. (2013).
    Many boomers are ill-prepared for retirement: 401k Issues    National Public Radio, WCPN, WKSU, others
  • Marinova, D. , Kozlenkova, I. , Cuttler, L. , Silvers, J. , (2013).
    Consumer Quest for Life Enhancing Treatments: The Role of Agency in New Product Adoption   American Marketing Association Winter Meetings
  • Silvers, J. (2012).
    J.B. Silvers: Ten myths about the reform of health care    AkronBeacon-Journal
  • Silvers, J. (2012).
    Healthcare Insurance Exchanges    WKSU, National Public Radio
  • Silvers, J. (2010).
    Guest Column: Health reform law is the best we can expect    Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Plain Dealer
  • Silvers, J. (2010).
    Interview Comments Cleveland Plain Dealer   
  • Silvers, J. , Marinova, D. , Cuttler, L. (2010).
    A National Study of Physician Recommendations to Initiate and Discontinue Growth Hormone for Short Stature (vol. 126, issue 3, pp. 468-476)  Pediatrics
  • Cuttler, L. , Silvers, J. (2010).
    Growth Hormone and Health Policy  (vol. 95, issue July 2010, pp. 3149 – 3153)  J Clin Endocrinol Metab
  • Cuttler, L. , Singer, M. , Simpson, L. , Gallan, A. , Nevar, A. , Silvers, J. (2009).
    Obesity in Children and Families Across Ohio, Ohio Family Health Survey 2009    Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services
  • Cuttler, L. , Marinova, D. , Mercer, M. B., Connors, A. , Meehan, R. , Silvers, J. (2009).
    Patient, Physician, and Consumer Drivers: Referrals for Short Stature and Access to Specialty Drugs (vol. 47, issue 8, pp. 858-865)  New York, NY: Medical Care
  • Cuttler, L. , Silvers, J. , Marinova, D. , Connors, A. , Meehan, R. (2009).
    Patient, Physician, and Consumer Drivers: Referrals for Short Stature and Access to Specialty Drugs (vol. 47, issue 8, pp. 858-865)  Medical Care
  • Cutler, L. , Silvers, J. , Singh, J. , Tsai, A. , Radcliffe, D. (2005).
    Physician Decisions to Discontinue Long-Term Medications Using a Two Stage Framework: The Case of Growth Hormone Therapy (vol. 43, issue 12, pp. 1185-1193)  Medical Care
  • Singh, J. , Cuttler, L. , Silvers, J. (2004).
    Toward Understanding Consumers' Role in Medical Decisions for Emerging Treatments: Issues, Framework, and Hypotheses (vol. 57, issue 9, pp. 1054-1065)  Journal of Business Research
  • Silvers, J. , Hammer, P. , Haas-Wilson, D. , Peterson, M. , Sage, W. (2003).
    The Role of Capital Markets in the Restructuring of Health Care   Durham and London: Duke University Press
  • Cuttler, L. , Finkelstein, B. , Silvers, J. , Neuhauser, D. , Marrero, U. (1998).
    Physician recommendations vs insurance coverage for growth hormone -- Reply  (vol. 280, issue 12, pp. 1053-1054)  JAMA -- Journal of the American Medical Association

Presentations

  • Silvers, J.  Dively Alumni Presentation, "The Future of Healthcare (after COVID)", Weatherhead School of Management, CWRU On-Line. (2020).
  • Silvers, J.  NPR Interviews-MarketPlace (approx 5 per year), "Interviews on pharmecutical industry, insurance, Affordable Care Act", NPR, (2020).
  • Silvers, J.  GENiE, International Health Care Innovations Conference, "Innovating Health Care at the Public/Private Interface", Global Educators Network for Health Care Innivation Education, Copenhagen Business School. (2019).
  • Silvers, J.  GENiE, International Health Care Innovations Conference, "Innovations driving the triple aim", Global Educators Network for Health Care Innovation Education, Copenhagen Business School. (2018).
  • Silvers, J.  10 talks to community groups/yr, "Affordable Care Act", Various Community groups (League of Women Voters, etc), (2017).
  • Silvers, J.  Annual Meeting: Aligning Forces for Quality, "TED Talk: Overcoming History", Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Washington, DC. (2014).
  • Silvers, J.  Crain's Cleveland Business Healthcare Summit, "The Affordable Care Keynote: Act after one year of healthcare.gov:", Crain's Cleveland Business, Cleveland Convention Center. (2014).
  • Silvers, J.  Crain's Cleveland Business Healthcare Summit, "Keynote: Transitioning from an Industrial to a Consumer Health Care Market", Crain's Cleveland Business, Executive at Landerhaven. (2013).
  • Silvers, J.  Academy Health Annual Research Meetings, "Market Failure In Healthcare and How the ACA Does (or does not) Address Them", Academy Health, Baltimore. (2013).
  • Silvers, J.  20-30 talks to community and professional groups, "Health Reform", Medical Societies, Business Groups, etc., (2013).
  • Silvers, J.  20-30 talks to community and professional groups, "Health Reform", Medical Societies, Business Groups, etc., (2011).
  • Cuttler, L. (Presenter & Author), Singer, M. (Author Only), Simpson, L. (Author Only), Gallan, A. (Author Only), Nevar, A. (Author Only), Silvers, J. (Author Only)  Supporting Decision-Making Through Research: Findings from the 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey Sponsored Projects, "Obesity in Children and Families Across Ohio", Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH. (2009).