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Biography

Bianca K. Frogner, PhD is a health economist and Professor in the Department of Family Medicine in the School of Medicine at University of Washington (UW). She is also the Director of the UW Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) and Director of the Primary Care Innovation Lab (PCI-Lab), both housed in the Department of Family Medicine. She is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health in the School of Public Health. She is a Governor-appointed member of the Washington state Health Care Cost Transparency Board and is the Chair of the Data Issues Advisory Committee of the Board. Dr. Frogner has been called upon by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, including to serve on the Consensus Study Committee on Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health. She has given state and federal testimony to inform health workforce policies. She is an Advisory Board Member of Milbank Quarterly and on the Editorial Board of Medical Care Research and Review. Dr. Frogner’s has produced over 150 publications including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reports. She has received awards recognizing her scholarship as well as mentorship. She has delivered over 250 scholarly presentations and has appeared in media outlets including CNN, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Vox, and Politico. Dr. Frogner has received awards recognizing her excellence in research and mentorship. Dr. Frogner completed a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. Dr. Frogner received her PhD in health economics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and BA at University of California, Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology.

 

Publications

Prusynski RA, Frogner BK, Dahal AD, Skillman SM, Mroz TM Skilled nursing facility characteristics associated with financially motivated therapy and relation to quality. J Am Med Dir Assoc. Dec 2020

Armstrong D, Moore J, Fraher EP, Frogner BK, Pittman P, Spetz J Covid-19 and the health workforce. Med Care Res Rev. Oct 2020

Mroz TM, Dahal A, Prusynski R, Skillman SM, Frogner BK Variation in employment of therapy assistants in skilled nursing facilities based on organizational factors. Med Care Res Rev. Aug 2020

Mroz TM, Patterson DG, Frogner BK The impact of medicare's rural add-on payments on supply of home health agencies serving rural counties. Health Aff (Millwood). Jun 2020

Skillman SM, Dahal A, Frogner BK, Andrilla CHA Frontline workers' career pathways: A detailed look at washington state's medical assistant workforce. Med Care Res Rev. Jun 2020

Fraher EP, Pittman P, Frogner BK, Spetz J, Moore J, Beck AJ, Armstrong D, Buerhaus PI Ensuring and sustaining a pandemic workforce. N Engl J Med. Jun 2020

LeRouge C, Sangameswaran S, Frogner B, Snyder C, Rubenstein L, Kirsh S, Sayre G The group practice manager in the vha: A view from the field. Fed Pract. Feb 2020

Frogner BK, Fraher EP, Spetz J, Pittman P, Moore J, Beck AJ, Armstrong D, Buerhaus PI Modernizing scope-of-practice regulations - time to prioritize patients. N Engl J Med. Feb 2020

Ide N, Frogner B, LeRouge CM, Vigil P, Thompson M What's on your keyboard? A systematic review of the contamination of peripheral computer devices in healthcare settings. . BMJ Open. Mar 2019

Luo R, Sickler J, Vahidnia F, Lee YC, Frogner B, Thompson M Diagnosis and Management of Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis in the United States, 2011-2015. . BMC Infect Dis. Feb 2019

Frogner BK, Harwood K, Andrilla CHA, Schwartz M, Pines JM Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain: An Instrumental Variables Approach to Estimate Impact on Opioid Prescription, Health Care Utilization, and Costs. Health Serv Res. Dec 2018

Snyder CR, Frogner BK, Skillman SM. Facilitating Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Health Workforce.. J Allied Health. 47(1):58-65.. April 2018

 

CHWS Publications

For full listings, please visit the CHWS website

Smith DJ, Dula C, Fite CM, Gattman NE, Mroz TM, Lee D, Prusynski RA, Frogner BK, Trotter LJ, Yang B, Gregg E, Kett PM, Boyd K. Washington State Long-Term Care Workforce Legislative Report Washington State Workforce Technical and Education Coordinating Board 10-01-2024

Woodward KF, Trotter LJ, Dill J, Frogner BK. New Opportunities or More of the Same? Health Industry Entrants in the Post-Pandemic Era Medical Care Research and Review 03-13-2025

Prusynski RA, Amaravadi H, Frogner BK, Mroz TM. Impacts of Skilled Nursing Facility Change of Ownership on Staffing: A Staggered Difference-in-Difference Analysis Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) 02-27-2025

Sabin JA, Nagasawa P, Guenther GA, Kett PM, Williams-York B, Naidu A, Frogner BK. Implicit and Explicit Race and Weight Biases Among Physician Assistant Preceptors and Trainees Journal of Physician Assistant Education 01-28-2025

Brumbaugh KQ, Kaplan L, Ma K, Mokdad A, Frogner BK, Rios Casas F, McCoy T, Bello B. Identifying Emerging Drivers and Interventions to Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy Among Long-Term Care Facility Nursing Staff Gerontologist 01-29-2025

 

CHWS Presentations

For full listings, please visit the CHWS website

Pollack SW, Lee D, Skillman SM, Frogner BK. Disparities in Employment and Work Conditions Among Health Care Workers with Disabilities Department of Family Medicine Fair & Scholarship Forum, Seattle, WA

Woodward KF, Skillman SM, Frogner BK. Ensuring a Diverse Nursing Workforce Western Institute of Nursing (WIN) Conference, Spokane, WA

Frogner BK. Do We Have a Health Workforce Shortage? What Research Can Tell Us Seattle Yacht Club, Seattle, WA

Frogner BK. Economics of the Health Workforce HEOR 540: Health Economics, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Kett PM, Guenther GA, van Eijk MS, Patterson DG, Frogner BK. Low Birthweight Rate Differences Associated With Distinct Perinatal Staffing Models at Federally Funded Health Centers American Public Health Association (APHA) 2024 Annual Meeting & Expo, Minneapolis, MN

 

RHRC Publications

For full listings, please visit the RHRC website

Mroz TM, Frogner BK, Patterson DG. The impact of Medicare’s rural add-on payments on supply of home health agencies serving rural counties Health Affairs 39:6, 949-957 06-01-2020

 

RHRC Presentations

For full listings, please visit the RHRC website

Mroz TM, Patterson DG, & Frogner B. The impact of Medicare’s rural add-on payments on access to home health care Poster presented at the AcademyHealth –Long Term Services and Support Interest Group Meeting, Seattle, WA

Mroz TM, Patterson DG, & Frogner B. The impact of Medicare’s rural add-on payments on access to home health care Poster presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA