The Center for Health Policy focuses on research from smoking, drinking, Medicare and Medicaid analysis to the effects of mental health and substance abuse on HIV/AIDS care. We objectively evaluate our research and disseminate it to attempt positive policy change. Our research is unique in health policy for two reasons:

1. We do not just study health services but the propensity for individuals or communities to utilize those health services. It is often assumed that health policy research focuses on the services offered. We find more significance in determining how individuals or groups learn about the services, how they attain those services, and how they felt while the service was provided.
   
   
2. We attempt to change policy on individual, local, national, and international levels. Policy is defined by Webster as a “plan or course of action intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters or a course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous.”