IMPACT REPORT 2021 AT THE INTERSECTION OF HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH POLICY - www.healthaffairs.org - external
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AT THE INTERSECTION OF HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH POLICY
2021
IMPACT
REPORT
www.healthaffairs.org
FROM THE
EDITOR-
IN-CHIEF 2021 was a year of planning for Health Affairs
Scholar, our new open access journal. A critical
step was a survey of authors, which revealed great
interest in this new product.
2021 was a fast-paced year for Health Affairs.
We did all of this in addition to producing a top-
Working remotely, we updated our 2020 strategic
notch monthly journal. The reputation of the
plan and began implementing a set of changes that
journal led the National Academy of Medicine to
will occur over the next few years.
seek us out to publish their Vital Directions for
Health and Health Care 2021, priorities for the new
After fifteen years, Health Affairs Blog became
Biden-Harris administration.
Health Affairs Forefront to reflect its importance as
an outlet for emerging ideas and commentary about
Theme issues of the journal focused on borders,
health policy. We launched new event series
immigrants, and health as well as perinatal mental
including Policy Spotlight, Journal Club, Lunch &
health. Both topics were new areas of focus for
Learn, and Professional Development. We completed
Health Affairs.
our first full year of weekly releases for our two
podcast series and published nine health policy
We increased our ad sales inventory, updated our
briefs.
marketing materials, and developed an outbound
prospecting strategy.
We convened a Health Equity Advisory Committee,
which met twice, and welcomed our first cohort of
Despite our physical distance, we came together
10 fellows into the HEFT program (Health Equity
as a team and accomplished great things!
Fellowship for Trainees). We analyzed our health
equity content, surveyed our authors, and began
routine collection of author and reviewer
demographic information, including race, ethnicity,
Alan Weil
and gender. Editor-In-Chief
2021 AT A GLANCE
2,008 Journal Manuscript
Submissions
Health Affairs achieved its highest Impact Factor
ever in 2021 at 6.301, a full point jump from 2020.
374 Papers Externally
Reviewed
For both the journal and Forefront, 2021 saw a
decrease in submissions after dramatic increases
in 2020 due to the pandemic. 10% Acceptance
Rate
With the introduction of our online event series,
we had a 163% increase in the number of events 44 Avg. Days To First Decision
For Reviewed Papers
we held in 2021.
Additionally, our podcast program nearly doubled, 1,113 Forefront
Submissions
from 67 podcast episodes in 2020 to 129 in 2021.
6.301 271 554
Impact Factor Journal Articles Forefront Articles
40 9 26,759
"Ahead Of Print" Papers Briefs Article Citations
129 21 14
Podcasts Online Events Planning & Committee
Meetings
www.healthaffairs.org
POLICY IMPACT
Health Affairs content had 137 citations across government sources, including
congressional hearings, rules, and letters of support.
A February paper, “Racial Disparities In Excess All-Cause
Mortality During The Early COVID-19 Pandemic Varied
Substantially Across States,” by Polyakova et al. was the most
cited Health Affairs paper across congressional sources in 2021.
The paper used individual-level administrative data to estimate
the geographic variation in excess all-cause mortality by race and
ethnicity to better understand the impact of the pandemic on
minority groups.
Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Cathy McMorris
(R-WA) cited the March 2021 Forefront article “Low Compliance
From Big Hospitals On CMS’s Hospital Price Transparency Rule,”
by Morgan Henderson and Morgane Mouslim, in a letter sent to
Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra in
support of provisions in the 2022 Medicare Outpatient Hospital
Payment Rule.
The Rule, released in July 2021, seeks to increase the
effectiveness of the Hospital Transparency Final Rule by
increasing the penalties for noncompliant hospitals. The cited
Forefront article found that 65 of the largest 100 US hospitals
were noncompliant as of early February.
An August Health Affairs paper, “Vaccinations Against COVID-19
May Have Averted Up To 140,000 Deaths In The United States,”
by Gupta et al. is ranked in the top 5% of all research outputs
ever tracked by Altmetric and has been cited across 132 news
outlets to date.
FOLLOWER +62K +8K
GROWTH Email Registrants Social Media Followers + Page Likes
www.healthaffairs.org
IN THE NEWS
Health Affairs had 2,171 media citations, including a piece on SNL's Weekend
Update and several pick-ups on C-SPAN including live coverage of two Policy
Spotlight events and a feature with Health Affairs employees on our podcast
series. We achieved significant coverage in Spanish-language media for our
theme issue on Borders, Immigrants, and Health. There were 53 citations in
"elite" media in 2021, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the
Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Associated Press, Bloomberg, and NPR.
MONTHLY MEDIA CITATIONS
300
200
100
0
January February March Apr May June July August September October November December
WEBSITE GROWTH
IN 2021
In 2021, Health Affairs had over 9.4
million visits to the website, with
increases in pages per session and
9.4M
Website Visits
average session duration, and a lower
bounce rate.
NEW VISITORS
IN 2021
6.86M The total number of new visitors in
2021 decreased 11% from 7.7 million
New Visitors in 2020. However, the number of new
visitors in 2021 still increased over
pre-pandemic levels—over 50%
growth compared to 4.5 million new
visitors in 2019.
TRAFFIC TO SITE
Total traffic to the site remained consistent throughout the year. The highest
total traffic to the site was on November 2, 2021, the day after the November
2021 variety issue, “Hospitals, ACA Marketplaces & More,” launched.
1,000,000
750,000
500,000
250,000
0
January February March April May June July August September October November December
THEME ISSUES & FEATURED ARTICLE SERIES In 2021, Health Affairs published two theme issues, "Borders, Immigrants & Health," and "Perinatal Mental Health." Additionally, we continued to focus on publishing and highlighting featured article series such as Considering Health Spending, Age- Friendly Health, The Practice of Medicine, Leading To Health, and more. Finally, we planned our transition to new workflows for additional content types in 2022, which we have begun to implement.
JULY THEME ISSUE
BORDERS, IMMIGRANTS & HEALTH
A public health crisis is unfolding along and
inside the US-Mexico border. Immigrants arriving
at the US border are likely to have experienced
political, economic, or interpersonal violence
prior to their arrival, leading to unmet mental and
physical health needs.
The July issue of Health Affairs and related
content focuses on immigrants and borders and
the impact on health policy. It examines recent
trends in immigrant health and health care
including conditions faced by immigrants,
access to care and insurance, and issues
surrounding morbidity and mortality.
IMPACT
Partnered with TI Verbatim
Consulting Inc. to translate news
release and toolkits into Spanish
Theme issue was picked up
across the US/Mexico border
(Spanish media - Agencia EFE
News)
Social media toolkit was shared
by El Colef, Al Otro Lado,
California Endowment, California
Wellness, Stanford Center for
Innovation in Global Health,
Diversity Data Kids, MLK
Community Healthcare, Poverty
Research IRP, and UCLA Fielding
School of Public Health
Health Affairs thanks Arturo Vargas Bustamante of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health for serving as
theme issue adviser. We also thank the California Health Care Foundation, the California Endowment, and Con
Alma Health Foundation for their support of this issue.
www.healthaffairs.org
OCTOBER CLUSTER
PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH
There has long been an awareness of the harm
associated with perinatal depression and mood
disorders, which occur in the context of social,
economic, and other health conditions that
affect the well-being of birthing people, families,
and communities. Prevention, screening, and
treatment can promote mental health in
pregnant and postpartum individuals, but it is
sporadic, and there are many missed
opportunities as individuals seek and obtain
care within the health care system and
community.
The October cluster of articles in Health Affairs
explores the policy opportunities and evidence
behind those options to reduce and address this
harm.
IMPACT
Speakers at the Issue Briefing included:
US Representative Lauren Underwood
(D-IL), the cofounder and cochair of the
Black Maternal Health Caucus and a lead
sponsor of the Black Maternal Health
Momnibus Act of 2021
Ellen-Marie Whalen, Chief Population
Health Officer at the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services in the
US Department of Health and Human
Services
Jennifer Moore, Founding Executive
Director, Institute for Medicaid Innovation
and Health Affairs Theme Cluster Adviser
Health Affairs thanks Jennifer Moore, founding executive director of the Institute for Medicaid Innovation, for
serving as theme adviser. We also thank the Zoma Foundation, Perigee Fund, and California Health Care
Foundation for financial support of this issue.
www.healthaffairs.org
LEADING TO HEALTH
The Leading to Health series examines some of the most innovative health systems in
the world, some widely known and some just getting off the ground or showing early
promise. In 2021, Health Affairs launched a dedicated Leading to Health newsletter and
a LinkedIn group and featured an interactive map that shows where in the US this
innovation is taking place.
11 3
Journal Articles A Health Podyssey
Episodes
CONSIDERING HEALTH SPENDING
While Health Affairs’ focus on health spending is not new, in 2021 we relaunched this
series with a dedicated LinkedIn group and newsletter.
The Considering Health Spending LinkedIn group and newsletter are opportunities to dig
into the latest work and pieces from the Health Affairs archives, all about health care
spending and value.
www.healthaffairs.orgHealth Affairs is more than just a journal. Our
publications, events, podcasts, briefs, and
HEALTH
more all contribute to a better understanding
of the impact of health policy.
POLICY Highlights of our work outside of the journal
in 2021 include starting Elevating Voices as
COVERAGE a way for us to share research from people
in historically marginalized communities,
and a new virtual event series in the Fall of
2021.HEALTH POLICY BRIEFS
Health Affairs published nine Health Policy Briefs in 2021 with support from the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation. These briefs provide a clear, comprehensive, and impartial overview that
anyone can use to quickly get up to speed on a topic. The most-read brief of the year focused on
the population health impacts of cannabis legalization in the US.
Understanding Suicide Risk And
Prevention
JANUARY 29, 2021
Eviction And Health: A Vicious
Cycle Exacerbated By A Pandemic
APRIL 1, 2021
Cannabis Legalization In The US:
Population Health Impacts
JULY 1, 2021
Public Transportation In The US:
A Driver Of Health And Equity
JULY 29, 2021
Low Density Zoning, Health, And
Aggressive Policing, Health, And Health Equity
Health Equity SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
APRIL 30, 2021
Inequities At Work And The Toll of
COVID-19
JUNE 4, 2021
Cannabis Liberalization In The US:
The Policy Landscape Prison And Jail Reentry And Health
JULY 1, 2021 OCTOBER 28, 2021
www.healthaffairs.orgVIRTUAL EVENTS SERIES
In Fall 2021, we introduced a new schedule of free
virtual events designed to showcase exciting thinkers,
policy makers, and policies; drill deeper into our
signature content; and hone the skills of a new
generation of health policy researchers and aficionados.
In addition to our already popular Briefings, we
introduced four new event formats:
LUNCH AND LEARN
Midday mini-symposia for policy professionals, with top
researchers and analysts on timely topics and initiatives impacting
health policy. Speakers take a deep dive into the specifics of an
issue, survey the latest efforts from policy makers, and provide BY THE NUMBERS
valuable insight into what’s working and what approaches can be
successfully replicated. Speakers have included Katie Keith,
Vabren Watts, Maninder Kahlon, and Rob Lott.
JOURNAL CLUB
Inspired by a century-old tradition of convening researchers to
keep abreast of the latest developments in a scholarly field,
Journal Club events feature authors of an important Health Affairs
study for an up-close look at research, methods, and findings.
Speakers have included Christopher Whaley, Sumedha Gupta,
Claire Margerison, Kevin Outterson, and Kevin Nguyen.
13
POLICY SPOTLIGHT Total Events
These events feature wide-ranging conversations with influential
health policy experts in Washington, DC and beyond. The event
series began with a focus on "The Biden Health Agenda." Speakers
have included Elizabeth Fowler, Micky Tripathi, Chiquita Brooks-
LaSure, Loyce Pace, Michelle McMurry-Heath, and Daniels Tsai.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Development events are gatherings aimed at early- to
midcareer stage professionals offering “how-to” tips for scholarly
publishing, peer review, and enhancing communication skills to
build profiles in academia, traditional media, and social media.
Speakers have included Patti Sweet, Sue Ducat, and Jane Hiebert-
White.
4,856
Total Registrants
www.healthaffairs.orgHEALTH EQUITY PROGRAM
In 2021 Health Affairs publicly announced its Health
BY THE NUMBERS
Equity Program. To answer the question of how we use
power to make progress, we created an agenda with
three elements to guide us: equitable participation, new
voices, and introspection.
HEALTH EQUITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The purpose of the Committee is to guide the journal in
developing and implementing strategies to advance
equity within scholarly publishing of health services and
39
Journal Articles
health policy research. The goals include:
increasing awareness about inequities and biases
associated with scholarly publishing of health policy
and health services research
increasing strategies that will reduce barriers for
publishing in Health Affairs for populations,
institutions, and organizations who are
underrepresented
65
Forefront Articles
HEALTH EQUITY FELLOWSHIP FOR TRAINEES
The Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees (HEFT)
helps to increase the quantity and quality of
manuscripts published by researchers of color,
while cultivating future health equity research
leaders.
The program provides multi-layered mentorship to
early career health equity researchers who belong
to historically marginalized racial groups which are
4
Briefs
also underrepresented in Health Affairs'
authorship. HEFT fellows receive mentorship from
experienced Health Affairs authors and editorial
staff for one year as the fellows prepare for their
manuscripts to be published in Health Affairs or
another journal.
26
Events and
Podcast Episodes
www.healthaffairs.orgELEVATING VOICES
In 2021, Health Affairs selected six
months to celebrate and elevate
voices published in Health Affairs
from historically marginalized
communities:
Black History Month (February)
Women's History Month (March)
AAPI Heritage Month (May)
Pride Month (June)
Hispanic American Heritage Month (September - October)
Native American Heritage Month (November)
BY THE NUMBERS
114 342 763,592 5,538
Author Voices Social Media Social Media Social Media
Elevated Posts Impressions Engagements
www.healthaffairs.orgPODCAST GROWTH & PERFORMANCE
A HEALTH PODYSSEY HEALTH AFFAIRS THIS WEEK
We celebrated the one-year anniversary of Health Affairs This Week reached its one-
A Health Podyssey in November 2021. year anniversary in December 2021.
In 2021, business of health care, health The best performing episodes of 2021
spending, and famous guests were tended to be explainers, especially for
associated with more listeners. Business major pieces of legislation.
and operations of health care and health
spending were also associated with higher The top performing episodes of 2021:
engagement. Momnibus Bill (most downloads)
No Surprises Act (most engagement)
The top performing episodes of 2021:
Leemore Dafny (most downloads)
Sherry Glied (most engagement)
64 67% 54 81%
A Health Podyssey A Health Podyssey A Health Podyssey A Health Podyssey
Episodes Average Episode Episodes Average Episode
Consumption Consumption
442 51,433 284 28,724
A Health Podyssey A Health Podyssey Health Affairs This Health Affairs This
Subscribers Episode Downloads Week Subscribers Week Episode
Downloads
www.healthaffairs.orgEMAIL GROWTH & PERFORMANCE
We saw impressive growth in our email program in 2021. In addition to list growth and
increased revenue year-over-year, we tidied, removed, streamlined, and combined
contacts and lists to ensure the cleanliness of our contact records.
Notable accomplishments included:
Launching the Considering Health Spending newsletter
Creating an onboarding journey for new journal subscribers
Creating templates for each designated list, including standardized header images,
social media buttons, and footers
EMAIL
PERFORMANCE
524,150
Email Sessions
on Site
HEALTH AFFAIRS HEALTH AFFAIRS
SUNDAY UPDATE TODAY
91,471 75.43% 39,408 9.74%
Health Affairs Health Affairs Health Affairs Health Affairs
Sunday Update Sunday Update Today Subscribers Today List Growth
Subscribers List Growth
www.healthaffairs.orgIMPROVING THE USER EXPERIENCE In an effort to streamline the reader and user experience and make it as robust and helpful as possible, Health Affairs embarked on several updates and changes to our digital properties. These included a rebrand of Health Affairs Blog to Health Affairs Forefront, an updated author journey and experience for submissions, and a refresh to the Health Affairs homepage that allows for the team to more easily highlight and promote exciting new content.
HEALTH AFFAIRS FOREFRONT
In December we rebranded Health Affairs
Blog to Health Affairs Forefront.
The name change reflected what the blog
became: a heavily cited, rigorously-
reviewed, and prolific digital publication.
MISSION
The mission of Health Affairs Forefront
stays the same: Create a space for
rigorous, action-oriented insights related
to health policy research, ideas, and
current policy events. No changes were
made to the publication’s content, but the
rebranding led to a change in that
content’s presentation.
WHERE IS HEALTH AFFAIRS FOREFRONT INDEXED?
Crossref Google Scholar Google Search Google News
www.healthaffairs.orgUPDATED AUTHOR JOURNEY
The Help for Authors page and related pages serve as an introduction to new or
existing authors where they can learn about Health Affairs as an organization and
how to publish with it.
UPDATES
The original Health Affairs’ author journey
was text heavy and didn’t present
information that was easy and clear to
follow visually. The new author journey
design and layout present visual cues and
guides to help new and existing authors
through the submission, review, and
publishing process.
NEW FEATURES
In this new design we also highlight
additional content creation opportunities:
podcasts and events. We also added an
FAQs section.
www.healthaffairs.orgHOMEPAGE REFRESH
In December 2021, we officially launched our new homepage.
The layout was refreshed and updated,
which included the sunsetting of the
slider images. In addition to creating the
new layout, we tested a new variation
against the former homepage layout.
There are now new content placements
and calls to action.
More than just a new layout, the
homepage is now much less labor-
intensive to manage and update. It also
allows us to showcase the breadth of
Health Affairs content, including the latest
Forefront articles, latest podcasts, and
upcoming events. The top left section is
reserved for breaking information, such
as issue releases and articles published
ahead-of-print.
www.healthaffairs.orgAT HEALTH AFFAIRS In 2021 Health Affairs left its Bethesda office for a new office in Dupont Circle. While the majority of the organization continues to work remotely, local staff have the option to work in the office when they would like. Ten new team members joined Health Affairs in 2021.
NEW TEAM MEMBERS
ILONA AIGRO
Sales Account Executive
NDIDI ANEKWE
Health Affairs Coordinator
ARRONOEL ASHBY-ROSELLON
Digital & Social Media Manager
MARIANNE AMOSS
Associate Editor
SARAH CURTIS
Publishing Coordinator
JESS GAWRYCH
Content Marketing Manager
KATIE KAEFER
Senior Marketing Manager
HUGO R. MINERA, JR.
Editorial Coordinator
JENNIFER NGUYEN
Web Coordinator
PHUNG NGUYEN
Staff Accountant
www.healthaffairs.orgHEALTH AFFAIRS STAFF
JOURNAL LEADERSHIP
Alan Weil, Editor-In-Chief
Donald E. Metz, Executive Editor
Jane Hiebert-White, Executive Publisher
Patti Sweet, Director of Digital Strategy
Vabren L. Watts, Ph.D., Director, Health Equity
EDITORIAL
Donald E. Metz, Executive Editor
Sarah B. Dine, Senior Deputy Editor
Rob Lott, Deputy Editor
Margaret Saunders, Deputy Editor
Donna Abrahams, Senior Editor
Ellen Bayer, Senior Editor
Jonathan Bor (Correspondent), Senior Editor
Jessica Bylander (Correspondent/Narrative Matters), Senior Editor
Leslie Erdelack, Senior Editor
Chris Fleming (Forefront), Senior Editor
Kathleen M. Haddad, Senior Editor
Lee L. Prina (GrantWatch), Senior Editor
Laura Tollen, Senior Editor
Bridget Verrette, Senior Editor
Marianne Amoss, Associate Editor
Virginia Jackson, Editorial Assistant
Hugo R. Minera, Jr., Editorial Coordinator
Daniel Mosier, Editorial Coordinator
Marc Berk, Ph.D. (DataWatch), Contributing Editor
Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, J.D., Contributing Editor
Katie Keith, J.D., M.P.H., Contributing Editor
James C. Robinson, Ph.D. Contributing Editor
PRODUCTION
Larry Wheeler, Managing Editor
Andrea Zuercher, Chief Copy Editor
Julia Vivalo, Graphic Design Manager
Deborah Leopold, Senior Production Editor
Anne Hicks, Associate Editor
Jeanne Burke, Associate Editor
www.healthaffairs.orgHEALTH AFFAIRS STAFF
OFFICE OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sarah Kolk, Special Assistant to the Editor-In-Chief
Ndidi Anekwe, Health Affairs Coordinator
BUSINESS
Jane Hiebert-White, Executive Publisher
Kelly Whalen, Senior Director of Development
Suzette Durand, Director of Finance and Administration
Sue Ducat, Senior Director of Communications
Debbie Boylan, Director of Events
Lucia B. Tayiel, Subscription Sales and Services Director
Irina Burns, Accounting Operations Manager
Catherine Perez, Publishing Services Manager
Phung Nguyen, Staff Accountant
Sarah Curtis, Publishing Coordinator
DIGITAL
Patti Sweet, Director of Digital Strategy
Chris Rudyj, Senior Technical Product Manager
Jeff Byers, Senior Content Marketing Manager
Katie Kaefer, Senior Marketing Manager
Jess Gawrych, Content Marketing Manager
Arronoel Ashby-Rosellon, Digital & Social Media Manager
Ilona Aigro, Sales Account Executive
Jennifer Nguyen, Web Coordinator
EQUITY
Vabren L. Watts, Ph.D., Director of Health Equity
FOUNDING EDITOR
John Iglehart
www.healthaffairs.orgHEALTH AFFAIRS BOARD
EDITORIAL BOARD
Linda H. Aiken, Ph.D., R.N., University of Pennsylvania
Joseph R. Antos, Ph.D., M.A., The American Enterprise Institute
Katherine Baicker, Ph.D., Harris Public Policy at the University of Chicago
Elaine Batchlor, M.D., MPH, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital
M. Gregg Bloche, M.D., J.D., Georgetown University and Center for Transnational Legal
Studies (London)
Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D., Brookings Institution
James C. Capretta, Ethics and Public Policy Center and American Enterprise Institute
Tsung-Mei Cheng, Princeton University, J.D., M.A.
David M. Cutler, Ph.D., Harvard University
Robert W. Dubois, M.D., Ph.D., National Pharmaceutical Council
Lynn M. Etheredge, Consultant
Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Marsha Gold, Sc.D., Mathematica Policy Research
Dana P. Goldman, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Jeff Goldsmith, Ph.D., Health Futures, Inc.
Romana Hasnain-Wynia, Ph.D., Denver Health
Arthur L. Kellermann, M.D., MPH, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine
Robert Kocher, M.D., Venrock, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC
and Engleberg Center for Health Reform at Brookings
Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Duke University
Faith Mitchell, Ph.D., Urban Institute
Peter J. Neumann, Sc.D., Tufts Medical Center
Kathryn A. Phillips, Ph.D., University of California San Francisco
Jeannette Rogowski, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., The George Washington University
William M. Sage, M.D., J.D., University of Texas at Austin
Leonard D. Schaeffer, University of Southern California
Mark D. Smith, M.D., University of California, San Francisco, and University of California,
Berkeley
Ian D. Spatz, J.D. M.P.A., Manatt Health, University of Southern California
Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D., M.A., Emory University
Keith A. Wailoo, Ph.D., Princeton University
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