Eric Andrew Finkelstein

Professor

Email

Contact: 65162338

Bio Research Publications

Dr. Finkelstein is Professor of Health Services and Systems Research at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore and the Executive Director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care. He also holds appointments at NUS School of Public Health and Duke University Global Health Institute. His research focuses on the economic causes and consequences of health behaviors, with a primary emphasis on the use of traditional and behavioral economic incentives to influence behaviors in ways to improve the public’s health. Recent research also focuses on studies to better understand the complicated decisions that revolve around end of life care. He has published over 300 manuscripts and 2 books in these areas, and also successfully commercialized an Obesity Cost Calculator for employers and insurers. Based on google scholar, he has an h-index of 71, i10-index of 216 and his publications have been cited over 100,000 times, including in the landmark Supreme Court decision upholding the U.S. Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). He was included in the list of the World's Most Highly Cited Researchers in 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Thomson Reuters and Clarivate Analytics and among the Top 2% of scientists worldwide in a study by Stanford University in 2021.

Research Interest

His main areas of health economics research include:

  1. Health Technology Assessments and Cost-effectiveness Analyses
  2. Behavioural Trials of Public Health Interventions, including economic incentives
  3. Preference Assessments using state-of-the-art techniques

The health technology assessment research applies economic evaluation frameworks to both clinical and public health interventions. Recent examples include burden of illness studies for migraine and asthma in Singapore, cost-effectiveness evaluations of weight loss medications, new treatments for diabetic retinopathy, and a community hypertension trial in Nepal. The behavioural trials aim to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve public health. Through a series of trials, Prof Finkelstein’s team tested different types of incentives to improve physical activity and weight loss, and most recently developed an on-line grocery to test a series of pricing and information strategies aimed to improve diet quality. Their preference work uses discrete choice experiments and other methods to understand the value of new technologies and the extent consumers are willing to trade off various features, both positive and negative, of an intervention. Studies focus on trade-offs between efficacy, safety, and costs but a special emphasis focuses on preferences for end of life care and the extent to which people are willing to trade off quality for quantity of life.

Research Team

As Executive Director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care, Dr. Finkelstein leads a team of roughly 40 individuals, including 5 faculty, who focus on research and education related to the complicated decisions around end of life care.

Asst Prof Irene Teo
irene.teo@duke-nus.edu.sg

Asst Prof Semra Ozdemir
semra.ozdemir@duke-nus.edu.sg

  1. Kinra S., Mallinson P., …, Finkelstein, E.A., Deo S, (2023), Impact of a financial incentive scheme on purchase of fruits and vegetables from unorganised retailers in rural India: a cluster-randomised controlled trial, Lancet Regional Health S.E.A., February 01, 2023.
  2. Lam, B. C. C., Lim, A., Ling, C.S., Yum, M., Koh, N., Finkelstein, E.A. (2023), The Impact of Obesity: A Narrative Review, Singapore Medical Journal (forthcoming).
  3. Chodavia, P., Teo, I., Poremski, D., Fung, D.S.S., Finkelstein, E.A., (2023), Prevalence and Economic Burden of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Among Singaporean Adults: Results from a 2022 Web Panel, BMC Psychiatry, 2023 Feb 14;23(1):104.
  4. Teo, I., Ng, S., Bundoc, P., Malhotra, C., Ozdemir, S., Steel, Jennifer., Finkelstein, E.A., (2023) COMPASS Group, A Prospective Study of Psychological Distress Among Patients with Advanced Cancer and Their Family Caregivers, Cancer Medicine (forthcoming).
  5. Shin, S., Puri, J., Finkelstein, E.A., (2023), A Randomized Trial to Evaluate the Impact of Singapore's Forthcoming Nutri-Grade Front-of-Pack Beverage Label on Food and Beverage Purchases, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (forthcoming).
  6. Sung, S. C., Lim, L., Lim, S. H., Finkelstein, E. A., Chin, S. L. H., Annathurai, A., Chakraborty, B., Strauman, T. J., Pollack, M. H., & Ong, M. E. H. (2022). Protocol for a multi-site randomized controlled trial of a stepped-care intervention for emergency department patients with panic-related anxiety. BMC Psychiatry, 22(1), 795.
  7. Yeung, K. F., Lee, Y. Q., Chong, M. F. F., Gandhi, M., Lam, A. Y. R., Julianty, S., Tan, G. C. S., Ho, E. T. L., Goh, S. Y., Tan, G. S. W., Shum, E. J. W., Finkelstein, E. A., Jafar, T. H., van Dam, R. M., Teoh, Y. L., Thumboo, J., & Bee, Y. M. (2022). Baseline characteristics of participants in the Pre-Diabetes Interventions and Continued Tracking to Ease-out Diabetes (Pre-DICTED) Program. BMJ OPEN Diabetes Research & Care, 10(5), e002966.
  8. Ang, F., Finkelstein, E. A., & Gandhi, M. (2022). Parent-Reported Experience Measures of Care for Children With Serious Illnesses: A Scoping Review. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 23(9), e416– e423.
  9. Ozdemir, S., Chaudhry, I., Ng, S., Teo, I., Malhotra, C., Finkelstein, E. A., & COMPASS Study Group (2022). Prognostic awareness and its association with health outcomes in the last year of life. Cancer Medicine, 10.1002/cam4.5286. Advance online publication.
  10. Ozdemir, S., Chaudhry, I., Tan, S. N. G., Teo, I., Malhotra, C., Malhotra, R., & Finkelstein, E. A. (2022). Variation in Patient-Reported Decision-Making Roles in the Last Year of Life among Patients with Metastatic Cancer: A Longitudinal Study. Medical Decision Making, 272989X221131305. Advance online publication.
  11. Sim, W. S., Yeo, S. H., Choi, C., Yeo, T. W., Lee, J. J., Huynh, V. A., Finkelstein, E. A., & Ozdemir, S. (2022). Preferences for a non-invasive prenatal test as first-line screening for Down Syndrome: A discrete choice experiment. Prenatal Diagnosis, 42(11), 1368–1376.
  12. Junxing, C., Huynh, V. A., Lamoureux, E., Tham, K. W., & Finkelstein, E. A. (2022). Economic burden of excess weight among older adults in Singapore: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 12(9), e064357.
  13. Ozdemir, S., Ng, S., Chaudhry, I., Teo, I., Malhotra, C., Finkelstein, E. A., & COMPASS Study Group (2023). Caregiver-Reported Roles in Treatment Decision Making in Advanced Cancer and Associated Caregiving Burden and Psychological Distress: A Longitudinal Study. Medical Decision Making: an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 43(2), 191–202.
  14. Tan Soo, J.S., Finkelstein, E.A., Pattanayak, S.K., Qin, P., Zhang, X.B., Jeuland, M. (2022) Air quality valuation using online surveys in three Asian megacities. Resources, Environment and Sustainability, 2022 Dec 1;10:100090.
  15. Ozdemir, S., Finkelstein, E.A., Lee, J. J., Too, I. H. K., Teo, K. Y. C., Tan, A. C. S., Wong, T. Y., & Cheung, G. C. M. (2022). Understanding patient preferences in anti-VEGF treatment options for age-related macular degeneration. PloS one, 17(8), e0272301.
  16. Jafar, T. H., Tan, N. C., Shirore, R. M., Allen, J. C., Finkelstein, E. A., Hwang, S. W., Koong, A. Y. L., Moey, P. K. S., Kang, G. C., Goh, C. W. T., Subramanian, R. C., Thiagarajah, A. G., Ramakrishnan, C., Lim, C. W., Liu, J., & for SingHypertension Study Group (2022). Integration of a multicomponent intervention for hypertension into primary healthcare services in Singapore-A cluster randomized controlled trial. PLoS medicine, 19(6), e1004026.
  17. Ozdemir, S., Lee, J. J., Yang, G. M., Malhotra, C., Teo, I., Pham, N. T., Manalo, M. F., Hapuarachchi, T., Mariam, L., Rahman, R., & Finkelstein, E.A. (2022). Awareness and Utilization of Palliative Care Among Advanced Cancer Patients in Asia. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 64(4), e195– e201.
  18. Balasubramanian, I., Finkelstein, E.A., Malhotra, R., Ozdemir, S., Malhotra, C., & COMPASS Study Team (2022). Healthcare Cost Trajectories in the Last 2 Years of Life Among Patients With a Solid Metastatic Cancer: A Prospective Cohort Study. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN, 20(9), 997–1004.e3.
  19. Ozdemir, S., Yeo, S.W.J., Lee, J.J., Bhaskar, A., Finkelstein, E.A., Tong, L. (2022) Patient Medication Preferences for Managing Dry Eye Disease: The Importance of Medication Side Effects. The Patient – Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, 2022 Jun 14;1-12.
  20. Malhotra, C., Bundoc, F., Chaudhry, I., Teo, I., Ozdemir, S., Finkelstein, E.A. (2022) A prospective cohort study assessing aggressive interventions at the end-of-life among patients with solid metastatic cancer. BMC Palliative Care, 2022 May 16;21(1):73.
  21. Ozdemir, S., Chen, T., Tan, C.W., Wong, W.H.W., Tan, H.S., Finkelstein, E.A., Sng, B.L. (2022) Parturients’ stated preferences for labor analgesia: a discrete choice experiment. Patient Preference and Adherence, 2022 Apr 8;16:983-994 .
  22. Malkin, J.D., Baid, D., Reem, A., Alghaith, T., Alluhidan M., Alabdulkarim, H., Altowaijri, A., Almalki, Z.S., Herbst, C.H., Finkelstein, E.A., El-Saharty, S., Alazemi, N. (2022) The Economic Burden of Overweight and Obesity in Saudi Arabia. PLoS One, 2022 Mar 8;17(3):e0264993.
  23. Sallnow, L., Smith, R., Ahmedzai, S.H., Finkelstein, E.A., …, Wyatt, K. (2022) Report of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: Bringing Death Back Into Life. The Lancet, 2022 Feb 26; 399(10327):837-884.
  24. Krukowski R.A., Harvey J., Naud S., Finkelstein E.A., West D.S. (2022) Perspectives on the Form, Magnitude, Certainty, and Target of Financial Incentives in a Weight Loss Program. American Journal of Health Promotion, 2022 Jul;36(6):996-1004 .
  25. Teo, I., Bhaskar, A., Ozdemir, S., Malhotra, C., Hapuarachchi, T., Joad, A. K., Manalo, M. F., Mariam, L., Ning, X., Palat, G., Rahman, R., Tuong, P. N., Finkelstein, E. A., & APPROACH study group (2022). Perceived stigma and its correlates among Asian patients with advanced cancer: A multi-country APPROACH study. Psycho-oncology, 31(6), 938–949.
  26. Finkelstein, E.A., Albert S Khouri (2022). Letter to the Editor: Cost Analysis of Surgical Intraocular Pressure Management in Glaucoma, Journal of Glaucoma, 2022 Mar 1;31(3):e10-e11.
  27. Shin, S., Chakraborty. B., Yan. X., Van Dam, R.M., Finkelstein E.A. (2022) Evaluations of Combinations of Nudging, Pricing, and Labelling Strategies to Improve Diet Quality: A Virtual Grocery Store Experiment Employing a Multiphase Optimization Strategy. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2022 Feb 23;kaab115.
  28. West, D.S., Krukowski, R.A., Monroe, C.M., Stansbury, M.L., Carpenter, C.A., Finkelstein, E.A., Naud, S., Ogden, D., Harvey, J.R. (2022). Randomized Controlled Trial of Financial Incentives During Weight Loss Induction and Maintenance in Online Group Weight Control. Obesity (Silver Spring), 2022 Jan;30(1):106-116.
  29. Finkelstein, E.A., Cheung, Y.B., Schweitzer, M.E., Lee, L.H., Kanesvaran, R., Baid, D. (2022). Accuracy Incentives and Framing Effects to Minimize the Influence of Cognitive Bias Among Advanced Cancer Patients. Journal of Health Psychology, 2022 Aug;27(9):2227-2235.
  30. Finkelstein, E. A., Bhadelia, A., Goh, C., Baid, D., Singh, R., Bhatnagar, S., & Connor, S. R. (2022). Cross Country Comparison of Expert Assessments of the Quality of Death and Dying 2021. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 63(4), e419–e429.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.12.015
  31. Sepulveda, J., Baid, D., Johnson, F. R., & Finkelstein, E. A. (2022). What is a Good Death? A Choice Experiment on Care Indicators for Patients at End of Life. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 63(4), 457–467.
  32. Bhadelia, A., Oldfield, L. E., Cruz, J. L., Singh, R., & Finkelstein, E. A. (2022). Identifying Core Domains to Assess the "Quality of Death": A Scoping Review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 63(4), e365–e386.
  33. Ozdemir, S., Ng, S., Wen, Y., Chaudhry, I., Finkelstein, E.A. (2022). Adoption of Preventive Behaviour Strategies and Public Perceptions about Covid-19 in Singapore. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 2022 May 1;11(5):579-591.
  34. Ozdemir, S., Ng, S., Wong, W. H. M., Teo, I., Malhotra, C., Mathews, J. J., Joad, A. S. K., Hapuarachchi, T., Palat, G., Tuong, P. N., Bhatnagar, S., Ning, X., & Finkelstein, E. A. (2022). Advanced Cancer Patients' Prognostic Awareness and Its Association With Anxiety, Depression and Spiritual Well- Being: A Multi-Country Study in Asia. Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)), 34(6), 368–375.