Boston University2027 (expected)Ph.D. Candidate, Health Services and Policy Research (Emphasis: Health Economics)
Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management
Dissertation (in progress): Measuring quality and value of health services for selective contracting
Chair: Dr. Steven D. Pizer

Seoul National University2016M.P.H. in Health Care Management and Policy
Thesis: Effects of tiered cost sharing on outpatient service use and prescription drug use

Seoul National University2013B.S. in Nursing, B.A. in Philosophy

VA Boston Healthcare System, US Department of Veterans Affairs
Graduate Fellow, Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center
Boston, MA · Sep 2021–present

Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) HQ (Korean equivalent of USAID)
Health Specialist, Global Disease Eradication Fund (GDEF) Department
Sungnam, Korea · Jun 2017–Feb 2021

World Health Organization (WHO) HQ
Research Assistant, Integrated Health Services Department
Geneva, Switzerland · Sep 2016–Dec 2016

Seoul National University Hospital (Academic medical center with 1700+ beds)
Registered Nurse (inpatient), Internal Medicine & Rehabilitation Medicine
Seoul, Korea · Sep 2014–Sep 2016

Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (Government health policy research institute)
Research Assistant (part-time), Health Care Policy Analysis Department
Seoul, Korea · Apr 2014–Jun 2014

1. Song S, Pizer SD, Yee CA, Auty SG. Geographic variation in low-value orthopedic services among Medicare-enrolled Veterans. JAMA Network Open. Forthcoming.

2. Song S, Pizer SD, Yee CA. Telehealth and the work behavior of mental health clinicians. Health Affairs Scholar. 2026;4(4). [Abstract]Introduction. Telehealth delivers more than half of mental health care in the United States amid persistent mental health workforce shortages. However, little is known about how telehealth relates to clinicians' work behavior, specifically their visits per clinic day and probability of turnover.

Methods. We examined mental health clinicians working at the Veterans Health Administration who collectively delivered 26 million visits. We regressed clinicians' monthly visit volume (supply), number of clinic days worked (input), visits per clinic day (throughput), and probability of turnover (retention) on the proportion of their mental health visits delivered via video. We used variation in broadband availability as an instrumental variable for video visit use.

Results. A 10 percentage-point higher proportion of video visits was associated with no significant difference in total visits, 0.9 fewer clinic days per month (8.5% of the sample mean), 0.5 more visits per clinic day (6.2% of the sample mean), and a 0.4 percentage-point lower probability of monthly turnover (46% of the sample mean). Among psychologists and social workers, higher video share was associated with more visits per clinic day and fewer clinic days, whereas psychiatrists showed fewer visits per clinic day.

Conclusion. Telehealth may shape clinicians' work behavior, including visits per clinic day, allocation of clinic days, and retention. [Full paper]

3. Miller KE, Price M, O'Malley K, Song S, Garrido MM. Home- and Community-Based Service Use Among Veterans: The National Landscape. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2025;73(6):1884–94.

4. Song S, Heo J. Promoting access to health technologies in the post-pandemic era: Gavi, Global Fund, Unitaid, and Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator programs. Journal of Appropriate Technology. 2021;7(2):216–224.

5. Song S, Kim E, Son S, Lee Y, Chae R, Kim H. A study of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders symptoms of music college students by major instruments. The Korean Journal of Public Health. 2015;52(2).

1. Song S, Jang T, Lum J, Nguyen P, Pizer SD, Yee CA. Association between Telehealth and Patient Experience in Veterans Affairs Primary Care, 2018–2021. Under review. [Abstract]Background. Telehealth accounts for a growing share of primary care delivery in the Veterans Health Administration, yet evidence on patient experience using policy-aligned measures and accounting for patient selection remains limited.

Objective. To examine the association between video visit use and patient experience in primary care across 13 patient experience measures.

Design. Cross-sectional study using VHA patient experience surveys linked to administrative data from October 2018 to September 2021. To account for patient selection into video visits, we used an instrumental variable approach leveraging broadband availability. Multiple hypothesis testing across 13 outcomes was addressed using Bonferroni correction.

Participants. 676,772 respondents with a primary care index visit. Main Measures: Exposure is a binary indicator of having at least one video visit. Outcomes are thirteen patient experience measures across five domains: overall ratings, timely access to care, communication with clinicians, care coordination, and comprehensive primary care. Outcomes were dichotomized as top-box indicators.

Key Results. Video visit use was not associated with statistically significant differences in 12 of 13 patient experience measures compared with in-person and telephone care. Video visit use was associated with a lower likelihood of being asked about depressive symptoms (adjusted difference, −0.54; 95% CI, −0.87 to −0.21; Bonferroni-adjusted P = .02).

Conclusions. Video visits were not associated with worse patient experience across most domains. However, screening for depressive symptoms may occur less frequently during video encounters, suggesting a potential quality gap that could be addressed through targeted screening protocols for video visits.

2. Song S, Auty SG, Yee CA, Chalmers K, Pizer SD. Prospective Low-Value Service Composite to Predict Spending and Quality. [Abstract]Objective. To develop a practice-level low-value service (LVS) composite for predicting orthopedic spending.

Study Setting and Design. Cross-sectional study of orthopedic practices serving Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration in 2019. We used a three-step approach: (1) estimating risk-adjusted practice-level rates for five candidate orthopedic LVS measures using hierarchical logistic models; (2) selecting measures predicting higher orthopedic spending without evidence of lower readmission; and (3) constructing volume-weighted composites of standardized rates and comparing their performance with an all-5-LVS composite and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) benchmark scores within Hospital Referral Regions.

Data Sources and Analytic Sample. Medicare Fee-for-Service claims (2017–2020) linked to the Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty file, Master Beneficiary Summary File, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) MIPS performance file. The sample included 461,874 Medicare-enrolled veterans with at least one orthopedist visit in 2019, attributed to 5,113 orthopedic practices identified by Tax Identification Number.

Principal Findings. Advanced back imaging and spinal injection met the prespecified selection criteria. A 1-SD increase in the resulting 2-LVS composite predicted $393.12 higher orthopedic spending (p < .01). Its prediction of 30-day readmission was positive but not statistically significant (0.35 percentage-point increase; 95% CI, −0.50 to 1.20). Neither the all-5-LVS composite nor the MIPS overall score predicted either outcome.

Conclusion. Outcome-predictive LVS composites may provide a useful approach for measuring orthopedic practice spending performance. However, composite performance was sensitive to specification choices, so policy applications may require careful alignment between measurement design and policy objectives. Outcome-predictive selection criteria may help guide these decisions.

3. Song S, Nguyen P, Sites EP, Barr K, Greer M, Pizer S, Thorsness R. Developing Clinician Staffing Guidelines in Veterans Health Administration.

National

Song S, Auty S, Yee CA, Chalmers K, Pizer SD. Use of Low-Value Service Measures to Predict Subsequent Population-Based Spending: Implications for Value-Based Network Regulation. Podium presentation, ASHEcon Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2026. [Link]

Song S, Nguyen P, Sites EP, Barr K, Greer M, Pizer S, Thorsness R. Developing clinician staffing guidelines in Veterans Health Administration. Poster presentation, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, 2025. [Link]

Song S, Legler A, Lum J, Pizer S, Yee C. Effects of telehealth provision on primary care provider labor supply. Podium presentation, ASHEcon Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, 2024. [Link]

Song S, Pizer S, Lum J, Yee C. Association between telehealth provision and provider labor supply. Podium presentation, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2023. [Link]

Song S, Palani S, Lum J, Barr K, Pizer S, Yee C. Association between virtual care use and patient satisfaction in primary care among Veterans. Poster presentation, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Washington, DC, 2022. [Link]

International

Griffith K, Asfaw D, Song S, Aswani M. Medicaid expansion was associated with longer wait times for specialty care. Podium presentation, International Health Economics Association Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 2023. (co-authored presentation)

NIH/NIA F31 Individual Predoctoral Fellowship. Submitted.
Title: Improving Medicare Advantage Network Regulation Through Practice Quality and Value Measurement
Role: Principal Investigator

Boston University Predoctoral Pilot Research Award , Oct 2025–Oct 2026.
Title: Measuring Quality and Value of Practices to Improve Selective Contracting
Role: Principal Investigator

Korea Medical Association/Research Institute for Healthcare Policy Thesis Award , 2015–2016.
Title: Effects of tiered cost sharing on outpatient and prescription drug use in South Korea
Role: Principal Investigator

Boston University Women’s Council Award, 2023

Principal Candidate, Fulbright Graduate Scholarship, 2020

Student Paper Award, Korea Health Panel (Korean equivalent of MEPS) Conference, 2015

Dr. Lee Fellowship, Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, 2015

Winning Team, SAS & Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (Korean equivalent of CMS) Competition, 2014

Dean’s Leadership List, Seoul National University, 2013

Song S. Telehealth provision and mental health clinician supply. Presentation at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. Virtual, 2025.

Song S. Public-private partnership in pharmaceutical innovation for low-income countries. Presentation at Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Korean equivalent of US CDC). Osong, South Korea.

Guest Lecturer, Fall 2025
Digital Disruption in Health (PM 804), Boston University
1-hour lecture for 30+ graduate students
Title: Telehealth: Evidence, Policy, and Implications for Patients and Clinicians

Guest Lecturer, Spring 2025
Advanced Quantitative Methods for Health and Social Policy Research (PM 822), Boston University
1-hour lecture for 8 PhD students
Title: Instrumental Variables: Concept and Practice

Teaching Assistant, Fall 2023
Health Economics (PM 833), Boston University
In-class group discussions, student presentation evaluation, and office hours for 20+ master's students

Guest Lecturer, Fall 2019
Global Public Health, Hanyang University
2-hour lecture for 20+ MPH students

Guest Lecturer, 2019
Introduction to Global Health, Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health & Welfare
2-hour lecture for 50+ junior professionals (highest rated in the semester)

Guest Lecturer, Fall 2018
Current Issues and Agendas in Global Health Security Agenda, Yonsei University
2-hour evaluation on final presentations for 40+ MPH students

Guest Lecturer, 2018
Advanced Global Health, Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health & Welfare
2-hour lecture for 30+ mid-career professionals

Guest Lecturer (×3), 2018
Global Health Training, Ewha Womans University
1-hour lecture for 30+ junior and mid-career professionals

Guest Lecturer, Spring 2018
Introduction to Public Health, Hanyang Cyber University
2-hour lecture for 20+ BA students

Professional Appointment

Member-at-large, AcademyHealth Health Economics Interest Group Advisory Committee, 2024–2026.

Prior Global Health and Korean Government Experience

Technical Expert Panel Member, (Korean) R&D Fund for Infectious Disease Research (GFID), 2019.

Ad Hoc Grant Proposal Referee, KOICA (×9), 2017–2019.

Professional Affiliations

AcademyHealth (2021–Present), ASHEcon (2021–Present), APPAM (2022–Present), SGIM (2023–Present).