About

The Lown Institute is a nonpartisan think tank advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health.

At its heart, health care is about people taking care of one another. Those who choose healing professions understand this and dedicate their careers to relieving the suffering of others.

In a health system that works, patients receive all the care they need and none that they do not, while clinicians take great satisfaction in their roles. Our society grows stronger, more stable, and more productive.

But the industrialization of health care has disrupted the healing relationship between clinicians and patients. Profits have been prioritized over healing. Too often, our system not only fails to heal, but creates new suffering.

It’s time for a health system worthy of our nation, a system that rejects low-value care, incentivizes healing over profits, promotes health equity, and honors the value of the clinician-patient relationship.

The Lown Institute believes that a radically better American health system is possible. Through our bold ideas, we are leading the movement towards this next system for health. We conduct research, convene experts, and spark public debate to bridge the gap between existing public policy solutions and the care that Americans want and need.

The Lown Institute is a tax-exempt organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Notable Accomplishments

Led the creation and growth of a new field of health care research that studies patient harm from unnecessary care:

• Convened six national conferences attracting more than 200 attendees annually, including the first conference in the world dedicated to the problem of overtreatment (2012-2018)
• Published a landmark series of papers in The Lancet on overuse and underuse around the world that involved 27 international experts from nine countries. (2017)
• Published a landmark report on the epidemic of Medication Overload (harmful polypharmacy) among older Americans. (2019)
• Held events featuring new data on hospital overuse of coronary stents (2023) and back surgeries (2024)
• Rank thousands of hospitals annually on their success at avoiding eleven tests and procedures that offer little to no clinical benefit.

Conducted innovative research and convenings around hospital social responsibility:

• Launched the Lown Hospitals Index, the first ranking to assess the social responsibility of U.S. hospitals by applying measures never used before like racial inclusivity, avoidance of overuse, and pay equity. (2020-)
• Created a measure of hospital “fair share spending” to assess how much nonprofit hospitals give back to their communities compared to their tax breaks (2021-)
• Built a database of hospital financial assistance and collection policies to highlight best practices for preventing medical debt (2023-)

Created programs to support socially responsible healthcare leaders, while shining a light on what needs to change in our system:

• Presenters of the Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility, honoring young physicians demonstrating bold leadership in social justice, health care reform, environmental justice, global peace, or other humanitarian efforts. Honorees include Mona Hanna-Attisha, Altaf Saadi, and Lilia Cervantes. (2022-)
• Created the Shkreli Awards, a top-ten list of the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care, that is compiled annually with the help of an esteemed panel of judges (2017-).

Prolific public speakers and conveners of clinicians, patient advocates, researchers, and others looking to disrupt health care for the better:

• Host an online speaker series taking on challenging topics like racism in healthcare, medical debt, and CEO pay that attracts as many as a thousand registrants each year.
• Founded the Right Care Alliance, an advocacy organization whose recent work has brought national attention to the insulin-rationing crisis in America. (2013-)
• Publish the Lown Weekly, an email newsletter featuring curated and original content that maintains a high rate of reader engagement and satisfaction. 
• Numerous keynotes delivered by Lown leadership at international and national meetings such as Preventing Overdiagnosis, AcademyHealth, and the Society for Participatory Medicine.
• Numerous op-eds and blog posts published in outlets ranging from the The Boston Globe to the San Francisco Chronicle and Health Affairs.
• Covered extensively in the media including top tier outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NPR, The Guardian, National Geographic, Consumer Reports, KFF Health News, STAT News, and many more.

Consistently attracted and engaged high-profile funders such as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Well Being Trust, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The Commonwealth Fund.