Andrew R. Olenski

Assistant Professor of Economics

Lehigh University

I am an economist studying health care and industrial organization, focusing on how market structure and incentives shape healthcare delivery and outcomes. My recent research examines long-term care, with a particular emphasis on quality in the nursing home industry. My work has been published in leading economics and medical journals, including Review of Economics and Statistics, AEJ: Economic Policy, New England Journal of Medicine, and JAMA.

Curriculum Vitae Google Scholar
Andrew R. Olenski

Working Papers

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Economics Journals

  1. Disruption and Displacement in Health Care: Evidence from Nursing Home Closures American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, conditionally accepted.
  2. Alleviating Worker Shortages Through Targeted Subsidies: Evidence from Incentive Payments in Health Care with Ashvin Gandhi, Krista Ruffini, and Karen Shen. Review of Economics and Statistics, forthcoming.
  3. Estimating Nursing Home Quality with Selection with Szymon Sacher. Review of Economics and Statistics, forthcoming.
  4. Common Practice: Spillovers from Medicare on Private Health Care with Michael Barnett and Adam Sacarny. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 15(3): 65–88, 2023.

Health Policy & Medical Journals

  1. State Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Mandates: Increased Staff Levels, Minimal Impact on Finances and Closures, 2010–23 with Rachel M. Werner, Xinwei Chen, and Norma B. Coe. Health Affairs 45(3), pp. 269–277, 2026.
  2. Pleading Poverty — Related-Party Payments and Health Care Entities' Financial Health with Erin C. Fuse Brown and Ashvin D. Gandhi. New England Journal of Medicine 394:4, 317–319, 2026.
  3. Health Impacts of Nursing Home Staffing with Karen Shen, Krista Ruffini, and Ashvin Gandhi. JAMA Health Forum 7(1):e256272, 2026.
  4. Affirmative Action Bans and Enrollment of Students from Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Groups in U.S. Public Medical Schools with Dan P. Ly, Utibe R. Essien, and Anupam B. Jena. Annals of Internal Medicine 175(6): 873–878, 2022.
  5. Behavioral heuristics in coronary artery bypass graft surgery with Andre Zimerman, Stephen Coussens, and Anupam B. Jena. New England Journal of Medicine 382:8, 778–779, 2020.
  6. Association of quetiapine overuse letters with prescribing by physician peers of targeted recipients with Adam Sacarny and Michael L. Barnett. JAMA Psychiatry 76(10), pp. 1094–1095, 2019.
  7. A health plan's formulary led to reduced use of extended-release opioids, but did not lower overall opioid use with Michael L. Barnett, N. Marcus Thygeson, Denis Ishisaka, Salina Wong, Anupam B. Jena, and Ateev Mehrotra. Health Affairs 37(9), pp. 1509–1516, 2018.
  8. Physicians' political preferences and the delivery of end of life care in the United States with Anupam B. Jena, Dhruv Khullar, Adam Bonica, and Howard Rosenthal. The BMJ 361:k1161, 2018.
  9. Acute myocardial infarction mortality during dates of national interventional cardiology meetings with Anupam B. Jena, Daniel M. Blumenthal, Robert W. Yeh, Dana P. Goldman, and John Romley. Journal of the American Heart Association 7(6):e008230, 2018.
  10. Reduction in firearm injuries during NRA annual conventions with Anupam B. Jena. New England Journal of Medicine 378:9, 866–867, 2018.
  11. Association between rainfall and diagnoses of joint or back pain: retrospective claims analysis with Anupam B. Jena, David Molitor, and Nolan Miller. The BMJ 359:j5326, 2017.
  12. Association between treatment by locum tenens internal medicine physicians and 30-day mortality among hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries with Daniel M. Blumenthal, Yusuke Tsugawa, and Anupam B. Jena. JAMA 318(21), pp. 2119–2129, 2017.
  13. U.S. immigration policy and American medical research: the scientific contributions of foreign medical graduates with Dhruv Khullar, Daniel M. Blumenthal, and Anupam B. Jena. Annals of Internal Medicine 167(8): 584–586, 2017.
  14. Delays in emergency care and mortality during major U.S. marathons with Anupam B. Jena, N. Clay Mann, and Leia N. Wedlund. New England Journal of Medicine 376(15), pp. 1441–1450, 2017.
  15. Patient mortality during unannounced accreditation surveys at US hospitals with Michael L. Barnett and Anupam B. Jena. JAMA Internal Medicine 177(5), pp. 693–700, 2017.
  16. Opioid-prescribing patterns of emergency physicians and risk of long-term use with Michael L. Barnett and Anupam B. Jena. New England Journal of Medicine 376(7), pp. 663–673, 2017.
  17. Sex differences in faculty rank among academic cardiologists in the United States with Daniel M. Blumenthal, Robert W. Yeh, Doreen DeFaria Yeh, Amy Sarma, Ada C. Stefanescu Schmidt, Malissa J. Wood, and Anupam B. Jena. Circulation 135(6), pp. 506–517, 2017.
  18. Sex differences in physician salary in U.S. public medical schools with Anupam B. Jena and Daniel M. Blumenthal. JAMA Internal Medicine 176(9), pp. 1294–1304, 2016.
  19. Sex differences in academic rank in U.S. medical schools in 2014 with Anupam B. Jena, Dhruv Khullar, Oliver Ho, and Daniel M. Blumenthal. JAMA 314(11), pp. 1149–1158, 2015.
  20. Do heads of government age more quickly? An observational study comparing mortality between elected leaders and runners-up in national elections of 17 countries with Matthew V. Abola and Anupam B. Jena. The BMJ 351:h6424, 2015.

Other Writing