Jack Needleman

Dr. Jack Needleman, PhD, FAAN, is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Fielding School of Public Health. He teaches courses in health policy in the master’s programs and research design and research methods to doctoral and MS students, and has previously taught program and policy evaluation and health politics. He received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Dr. Needleman’s research focuses on the impact of changing markets and public policy on quality and access to care, and health care provider and insurer responses to market and regulatory incentives. For the past decade, Dr. Needleman’s research has focused on studies of quality and staffing in hospitals and on the evaluation and design of performance improvement activities.  Three of Dr. Needleman’s first authored publications on quality of care and nurse staffing are designated patient safety classics by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Quality measures he developed have been adopted by AHRQ, Medicare, Joint Commission, and National Quality Forum and his expertise developing, testing and refining quality measures has been tapped by these and other organizations. He was lead evaluator for the Robert Wood Johnson initiative Transforming Care at the Bedside and serves on the Steering Council for the NIH-funded Improvement Science Research Network.

Dr. Needleman’s research extends beyond quality. He has directed projects on a wide range of topics, including studies of for-profit and nonprofit hospitals, the impact of community health centers on hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and changes in access to inpatient care for psychiatric conditions and substance abuse. He has analyzed the cost, design and impact of expanding insurance, most recently in the development and refinement of the UCLA-Berkeley California Simulation of Insurance Markets modeling. He has had a Robert Wood Johnson Investigator Award to study the future of public hospitals. He studied Canadian provisional systems for paying and regulating hospitals, physicians and supplemental health insurers, and regulating new technology. Prior to coming to UCLA in 2003, Dr. Needleman was on the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health and before that was Vice President and Co-Director of the Public Policy Practice at Lewin/ICF, a Washington health policy research and consulting firm. While at Lewin/ICF, he conducted studies and served as a consultant to numerous state and federal task forces examining health care costs and access to care, and evaluated or helped design payment systems for hospitals, physicians and nursing homes.

Dr. Needleman’s research on the impact of nurse staffing on patient outcomes in hospitals and the business case for increasing nurse staffing received the first AcademyHealth Health Services Research Impact Award. In recognition of the quality and impact of his research, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) and made an honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Selected Publications

• Secola Rita, Azen Colleen, Lewis Mary Ann, Pike Nancy, Needleman Jack, Sposto Richard, Doering Lynn A crossover randomized prospective pilot study evaluating a central venous catheter team in reducing catheter-related bloodstream infections in pediatric oncology patients. Journal of pediatric oncology nursing: official journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses, 2013; 29(6): 307-15.
• Wyte-Lake Tamar, Tran Kim, Bowman Candice C, Needleman Jack, Dobalian Aram A systematic review of strategies to address the clinical nursing faculty shortage The Journal of nursing education, 2013; 52(5): 245-52.
• Needleman Jack Assessing low mortality in magnet hospitals Medical care, 2013; 51(5): 379-81.
• Secola Rita, Lewis Mary Ann, Pike Nancy, Needleman Jack, Doering Lynn Feasibility of the use of a reliable and valid central venous catheter blood draw bundle checklist Journal of nursing care quality, 2013; 27(3): 218-25
• SecolaRita, Azen Colleen, Lewis Mary Ann, Pike Nancy, Needleman Jack, Sposto Richard,Doering Lynn A crossover randomized prospective pilot study evaluating a central venous catheter team in reducing catheter-related bloodstream infections in pediatric oncology patients Journal of pediatric oncology nursing : official journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses, 2013; 29(6): 307-15.
• Wyte-Lake Tamar, Tran Kim, Bowman Candice C, Needleman Jack, Dobalian Aram A systematic review of strategies to address the clinical nursing faculty shortage The Journal of nursing education, 2013; 52(5): 245-52.
• Secola Rita, Lewis Mary Ann, Pike Nancy, Needleman Jack, Doering Lynn Feasibility of the use of a reliable and valid central venous catheter blood draw bundle checklist Journal of nursing care quality, 2013; 27(3): 218-25
• Bowman Candice C, Johnson Linda, Cox Malcolm, Rick Catherine, Dougherty Mary, Alt-White Anna C, Wyte Tamar, Needleman Jack, Dobalian Aram The Department of Veterans Affairs Nursing Academy (VANA): forging strategic alliances with schools of nursing to address nursing's workforce needs Nursing outlook, 2011; 59(6): 299-307.
• Needleman Jack, Minnick Ann F Response to Commentary: What Conclusions Can We Draw from Recent Analyses of Anesthesia Provider Model and Patient Outcomes? Health services research, 2010;
• Chung Judith H, Phibbs Ciaran S, Boscardin W John, Kominski Gerald F, Ortega Alexander N, Needleman Jack The effect of neonatal intensive care level and hospital volume on mortality of very low birth weight infants Medical care, 2010; 48(7): 635-44.
• Needleman Jack, Minnick Ann F Anesthesia provider model, hospital resources, and maternal outcomes Health services research, 2009; 44(2 Pt 1): 464-82.
• Parkerton Patricia H, Needleman Jack, Pearson Marjorie L, Upenieks Valda V, Soban Lynn M, Yee Tracy Lessons from nursing leaders on implementing TCAB The American journal of nursing, 2009; 109(11 Suppl): 71-6.
• Liu Chuan-Fen, Sharp Nancy D, Sales Anne E, Lowy Elliott, Maciejewski Matthew L, Needleman Jack, Li Yu-Fang Line authority for nurse staffing and costs for acute inpatient care Inquiry: a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing, 2009; 46(3): 339-51.
• Needleman Jack, Parkerton Patricia H, Pearson Marjorie L, Soban Lynn M, Upenieks Valda V, Yee Tracy Overall effect of TCAB on initial participating hospitals The American journal of nursing, 2009; 109(11 Suppl): 59-65.
• Pearson Marjorie L, Needleman Jack, Parkerton Patricia H, Upenieks Valda V, Soban Lynn M, Yee Tracy Participation of unit nurses: front-line implementation on TCAB pilot units The American journal of nursing, 2009; 109(11 Suppl): 66-70.
• Needleman Jack, Hassmiller Susan The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency: real-world results Health affairs (Project Hope), 2009; 28(4): w625-33.