ResearchOur PeopleRichard T. Meenan

Richard T. Meenan, PhD, MPH

Richard Meenan, PhD, MPH, is a health economist with a primary research interest in methods to conduct economic evaluation of health care interventions, such as decision modeling and return-on-investment analysis.

He has worked on studies of colorectal cancer screening, tobacco cessation, weight-loss management, school- and workplace-based sun-safety policy, and the effects of the built environment on health and economic outcomes. Within these areas, he has contributed to economic studies of a system-based colorectal cancer screening program, a hotel-based obesity-prevention program, sun-safety promotion in elementary schools and public-sector workplaces, and the clinical and cost implications of the introduction of a metropolitan light rail line.

Dr. Meenan received a PhD in economics from Arizona State University and an MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from Oregon Health & Science University. He also obtained an MBA from Indiana University. From 1995 to 1997, he held a fellowship underwritten by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service, in Oregon Health & Science University’s Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine and the Center for Health Research.

Selected Current Studies

  • A Multi-Level Investigation of US Indoor Tanning Policy Enactment: Implementation, Compliance, Impact, and Economics
  • Using Technology to Scale-Up an Occupational Sun Protection Policy Program
  • Self-Testing Options in the Era of Primary HPV Screening for Cervical Cancer: the STEP Trial

Selected Publications

  • Meenan RT, Troja C, Buist DSM, Tiro JA, Lin J, Anderson ML, Gao H, Green BB, Winer RL. Economic Evaluation of Mailed Home-Based Human Papillomavirus Self-sampling Kits for Cervical Cancer Screening. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e234052. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.4052. PMID: 36947040 PMCID: PMC10034577
  • Meenan RT, Frank LD, Saelens BE, Young DR, Kuntz JL, Dickerson JF, Wali B, Keast EM, Fortmann SP. Effects of an urban light rail line on health care utilization and cost: a pre-post assessment. Transport Policy 2022;123:112-120. doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.05.005
  • Meenan RT, Baldwin LM, Coronado GD, Schwartz M, Coury J, Petrik AF, West II, Green BB. Costs of Two Health Insurance Plan Programs to Mail Fecal Immunochemical Tests to Medicare and Medicaid Plan Members. Popul Health Manag. 2021 Apr;24(2):255-265. doi: 10.1089/pop.2020.0041. Epub 2020 Jun 29. PMID: 32609077
  • Meenan RT, Reynolds KD, Buller DB, Massie K, Berteletti J, Buller MK, Ashley J, Liu X. Economic Evaluation of a Sun Protection Promotion Program in California Elementary Schools. Am J Health Promot. 2020 Nov;34(8):848-856. doi: 10.1177/0890117120905217. Epub 2020 Feb 13. PMID: 32054287
  • Meenan RT, Coronado GD, Petrik A, Green BB. A cost-effectiveness analysis of a colorectal cancer screening program in safety net clinics.  Prev Med. 2019 Mar;120:119-125. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.01.014. Epub 2019 Jan 24. PMID: 30685318  PMCID: PMC6392039
  • Meenan RT, Stumbo SP, Yarborough MT, Leo MC, Yarborough BJ, Green CA. An Economic Evaluation of a Weight Loss Intervention Program for People with Serious Mental Illnesses Taking Antipsychotic Medications.  Adm Policy Ment Health. 2016 Jul;43(4):604-15. doi: 10.1007/s10488-015-0669-2. PMID: 26149243 PMCID: PMC4705000
  • Meenan RT, Anderson ML, Chubak J, Vernon SW, Fuller S, Wang CY, Green BB. An economic evaluation of colorectal cancer screening in primary care practice. Am J Prev Med. 2015 Jun;48(6):714-21. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2014.12.016.  PMID: 25998922 PMCID: PMC4441758

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