The American College of Radiology (ACR) has named Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, executive director of the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute (HPI). Rula will oversee HPI’s entire extensive research portfolio in the areas of utilization, health policy, access and quality, and alternative healthcare models. She will also manage relationships with contracted research sites, including the Health Economics and Analytics Lab (HEAL) Center at Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) and the Imaging Policy Analytics for Clinical Transformation (IMPACT) project at Emory University.

“I look forward to advancing the Neiman Institute’s important work to provide credible, objective, and reproducible healthcare economics research to lawmakers, regulators, and payers to help them make informed policy decisions,” Rula says. “We will continue working to improve patient care and bolster efficient, effective use of healthcare resources.”

Rula has served as a healthcare leader for more than a decade, with extensive experience overseeing science-based research and analytics, most recently as executive director of research and thought leadership at Tivity Health. She has authored dozens of peer-reviewed publications and spoken at numerous conferences and events on various population health topics. Additionally, Rula is the distinguished winner of the Ann E. Nolte Foundation for the Advancement of Health Education Writing award and is recognized as a 40-Under-40 recipient by the Nashville Business Journal.

“Dr. Rula is a strategic leader with proven success developing and executing a broad program of research, publications, and thought leadership,” says William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, FACR, chief executive officer of the ACR. “Her work will support strategic initiatives and innovation, build market credibility, inform health policy and establish strong, evidence-based value propositions for radiology,” 

Rula succeeds Danny Hughes, PhD, who has led the Neiman Institute to achieve many milestones from its inception in August 2012, positioning the HPI as a premier health policy research institute. Rula will assume the role of executive director on Aug. 1.

For more information, visit the Neiman Health Policy Institute.