Professor of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School

Research Interests:
Dr. Fisher is a general internist whose research focuses on exploring both the causes and the implications for health and health policy of regional variations in Medicare spending and practice. He has broad expertise in the use of Medicare databases and survey research methods for health care evaluation. His recent two-part series on the implications of regional variations in Medicare spending suggests that about 30% of current U.S. health care spending is devoted to services that provide no apparent health benefits -- and may be harmful. His work questions the widely held assumption that in medical care, more is always better.

Selected Publications:

1. Fisher ES, Welch HG. Avoiding the unintended consequences of growth in medical care: how might more be worse? JAMA 1999; 281:446-53.


2. Silverman EM, Skinner JS, Fisher ES. The association between for profit hospital ownership and Medicare spending. N Engl J Med 1999; 341:420-6.


3. Fisher ES, Wennberg DE, Stukel TA, Gottlieb DJ, Lucas FL, Pinder EL. The implications of regional variations in Medicare spending. Part 1: the content, quality, and accessibility of care. Ann Intern Med 2003; 138:273-87.


4. Fisher ES, Wennberg DE, Stukel TA, Gottlieb DJ, Lucas FL, Pinder EL. The implications of regional variations in Medicare spending. Part 2: health outcomes and satisfaction with care. Ann Intern Med 2003; 138:288-98.


5. Fisher, ES. Medical Care -- Is More Always Better? N Engl J Med, 2003; 349(17):1665.