Kevin G. Volpp, MD, PhD, investigator at HSR&D's Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, was named one of four finalists for the British Medical Journal's "Getting Research into Practice" award, which recognizes those who have successfully introduced evidence-based improvements into patient care. Dr. Volpp was among more than 127 nominated for this prestigious honor. He received the nomination for a project on incentivized smoking-cessation among General Electric employees.
The BMJ award is open to organizations/teams worldwide. To be nominated, projects must: address an important health issue (in terms of burden of disease or health inequalities); show measurable improvements in outcomes that are important to patients; use innovative methods of either research or implementation; and take a valid evidence-based approach.
Dr. Volpp has conducted other research on incentive-based health behavior change. For example, his study "Financial Incentive-Based Approaches for Weight Loss: A Randomized Trial," published in JAMA, found that Veterans participating in two weight loss strategies based on financial incentives lost significantly more weight than Veterans in the control group.