Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among Veterans enrolled in the VHA.

Peter Groeneveld, MD, MS is a CHERP investigator, primary care physician at Philadelphia VAMC, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  His research focuses on the comparative effectiveness and diffusion of innovative health care technology, with an emphasis on economic and equity implications to society. The majority of his investigations are in cardiovascular medicine. His methodological expertise is in health care database analyses, economic analyses, and patient quality-of-life assessment. He recently completed a VA HSR&D study assessing the impact of high-cost technologies among Veterans with heart failure,  and he is currently  PI on an AHRQ R01 investigating the mechanisms by which new technology increases health care costs.

Dr. Groeneveld is one of four CHERP investigators recently awarded funding by VA HSR&D for new merit review projects.  “Costs and Outcomes of Chronic Heart Disease Care in the VHA” will address how to fully optimize the value of care for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death among Veterans enrolled in the VHA.  His co-investigators include VA experts who lead national programs in cardiovascular outcomes studies, empirical economic analyses, and qualitative research methods.  They will compare the outcomes and costs of care for two widely prevalent and high-cost cardiovascular conditions—ischemic heart disease (IHD) and chronic heart failure (CHF)—across the VA’s 150 VAMCs from fiscal years 2010 to 2014.  This analysis will identify the key institutional, programmatic, and leadership factors that characterize the nation’s top-performing VAMCs in high-value IHD and CHF care, providing a critically important “blueprint” for VA clinical and operations leaders seeking to improve cardiovascular care throughout the VA’s health system.

Dr. Groeneveld is an active mentor for junior faculty, contributing his expertise on economic analyses, innovation diffusion, and treatment disparities.  He is the Vice-Chair of the PVAMC Research and Development Committee, serves as Co-Director of Research at Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute, and is Co-Chair of the VA Health Economics Resource Center (HERC Steering Committee). He has co-authored more than 45 peer-reviewed publications, including recent papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, Medical Care, Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Critical Care Medicine.  He is a Senior Guest Editor at Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, the American Heart Association's leading journal for cardiovascular outcomes research.