Michael D. Finch, PhD, received his degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota. After 14 years on the faculty of the Division of Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, he left to become Director of Research Programs for UnitedHealth Group. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Samueli Institute and a member of the graduate faculty at the University of Minnesota and has appointments in the Carlson School of Management, the School of Public Health, and the Department of Sociology. Dr. Finch is widely known for his work on the cost, quality, and financing of healthcare in the public and private market and is nationally recognized as an expert in research methods and evaluation. He has received and worked on dozens of federally sponsored grants and contracts, including the Health Care Financing Administration’s National Post Acute Care Project, the Second Generation Social HMO Demonstration, the National Institute of Mental Health–funded Youth Development Survey, and the National Institute for Aging–funded Evaluation of the Medicaid Demonstration. His most recent research includes a study on the effects of surgical volume on outcomes in hospitals, an assessment of guideline performance for diabetes, the cost and financing of end-of-life care, and an evaluation of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.