Research
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My research draws on tools and frameworks from health economics, public finance, industrial organization, and health services research to study how market forces and policy interventions shape healthcare access and quality.
My research centers on two interconnected themes:
(1) identifying systemic gaps and disparities in the behavioral healthcare treatment landscape
(2) examining regulatory barriers and policy changes
The first is systematically auditing the treatment landscape through a patient lens to identify gaps in access and disparities. For example, I have used secret shopper methods to capture treatment availability, cost, and quality with varied patient payer profiles. These studies exposed and quantified access barriers and disparities, high upfront payments, and quality concerns. Evidence-based therapies were often unavailable and discouraged with misinformation and stigmatizing language, despite being the ‘gold standard’ and first-line therapy in clinical guidelines. Representative publications include work on outpatient treatment access, residential therapies offered, residential admission practices and cost, adolescent treatment therapies, adolescent treatment access, psychiatric hospitals.
A second stream of work focuses on studying how barriers can be mitigated at scale to better meet patient needs. I consider factors such as structural and regulatory barriers and payment policy changes. I evaluate the effects of a Medicaid policy (1115 Institutions for Mental Diseases Substance Use Disorder Waivers) that links newly accessible Medicaid funds to minimum quality standards in my job market paper and other dissertation work. Other work includes Telehealth, prior authorizations, Crisis Intervention Team access, and Opioid Treatment Program payment changes.
For a complete list of publications, see my Google Scholar Profile.
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More on my Job Market Paper can be found here:
The manuscript has been invited for submission to Health Affairs (September 2025 Theme Issue).
This work, as part of the larger dissertation project, received a national NIH (NIDA) Dissertation Funding Award, and has been recognized with several national conference awards.
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Diversity Supplement ($49,799), 2024-2025, Role: Trainee; PIs: Susan Busch, Marissa King
Addiction Health Services Research Conference Attendance (<$5,000), 2024, Stanford School of Medicine Center for Dissemination and Implementation, Role: Recipient of ‘Early Career Investigator Award’
AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting Attendance (<$5,000), 2024, Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery at Mayo Clinic, Role: Recipient of ‘Early Career Investigator Award’; ‘Early Career Outstanding Paper’
R36 Dissertation Award ($46,273), 2023-2024, National Institute on Drug Abuse (R36DA058877), Role: Principal Investigator
Graduate Policy Fellowship (<$5,000), 2023-2024, Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Role: Graduate Policy Fellow
AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting Attendance (<$5,000), 2022, Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery at Mayo Clinic, Role: Recipient of ‘Best Abstract of Health Economics Interest Group’
RAND Opioid Policy Tools and Information Center Pilot Project ($25,000), 2021-2022, National Institute on Drug Abuse (Parent: P50DA046351, Sub: SCON00000442), Role: Principal Investigator
National Research Service Awards Health Services Research Training, 2019-2023, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (T32HS017589), Role: Pre-doctoral Trainee; PI: Mark Schlesinger
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Top Ten Health Affairs Articles of 2024, Health Affairs Forefront, 2025
Early Career Investigator Award, Addiction Health Services Research Conference, 2024
Early Career Investigator Award, Quality and Value Interest Group, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2024
Early Investigator Outstanding Paper Award, Health Economics Interest Group, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2024
Best Student/Postdoc Abstract, Mental Health and Substance Use Research Interest Group, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2024
Best Student-Led Abstract, State Health Research and Policy Interest Group, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2024
Highest Impact Publications from 2023-2024, Annual Review of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2024
Emerging Scholar, Best Abstract, Health Economics Interest Group, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2022
Highest Impact Publications from 2020-2021, Annual Review of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2021
Highest Impact Publications from 2019-2020, Annual Review of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2020
Best of 2019, Best of Annals in the past year, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2019
Best of Annual Research Meeting, Behavioral Health Theme, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, 2019
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Select Media Coverage
Beetham T, Saloner B, Wakeman SE, Gaye M, Barnett M: Access to office-based buprenorphine treatment in areas with high opioid-related mortality: an audit study. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2019 Jun 3.
Beetham T, Saloner B, Gaye M, Wakeman SE, Frank RG, Barnett M: Therapies Offered at Residential Addiction Treatment Programs in the US. JAMA. 2020 Aug 25.
Beetham T, Saloner B, Gaye M, Wakeman SE, Frank RG, Barnett M: Admission Practices and Cost of Care for Opioid Use Disorder at Residential Addiction Treatment Programs in the US. Health Affairs. 2021 Feb 1
Newton H, Beetham T, Busch SH. Association of Access to Crisis Intervention Teams with County Sociodemographic Characteristics and State Medicaid Policies and Its Implications for a New Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul 15;5(7):e2224803.
Beetham T, Fiellin DA, Busch SH. Physician Response to COVID-19-driven Telehealth Flexibility for Opioid Use Disorder. Am J Manag Care. 2022 Sep;28(9):456-463.
King C, Beetham T, Smith N, Englander H, Hadland SE, Bagley SM, PT Korthuis. Treatments Used Among Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment Facilities in the US, 2022. JAMA. 2023;329(22):1983–1985.
King C, Beetham T, Smith N, Englander H, Button D, Brown PCM, Hadland SE, Bagley SM, Wright OR, PT Korthuis, Cook R. Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment in the US: Uneven Access, Waitlists, and High Costs. Health Affairs. 2024 43:1, 64-71.
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Notable Policy and Document Citations
Audit Studies
42 CFR 8 Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder, HHS Proposed Rule to Modify Regulations (incorporates elimination of DATA Waiver Program)
Major Gaps in the Cascade of Care for Opioid Use Disorder Implications for Clinical Practice, Leaders of CDC, SAMHSA, & NIDA
Treating Opioid Use Disorder in General Medical Settings, Medical Textbook
Long-Term Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder with Medications, The Oxford Handbook of Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder
The Opioid Epidemic: Origins, Current State and Potential Solutions, Textbook for college-level courses on psychology, human behavior, and related fields
Speaking the Same Language: A Toolkit for Strengthening Patient-Centered Addiction Care in the United States, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Public Policy Statement on Government Strategies to Foster Ethical Addiction Treatment, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, The Oxford Handbook of Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder
Closing Gaps in the Care Continuum: Opportunities to Improve Substance Use Disorder Care in the Federal Health Programs, Expert Testimony, US Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care
Many Medicaid Enrollees with Opioid Use Disorder Were Treated with Medication; However, Disparities Present Concerns, HHS Office of Inspector General Report
Telehealth
Congressional Budget Justification FY 2024, National Institute on Drugs and Addiction
Policy Statement: Optimizing Telehealth Access to Addiction Care, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Re: DEA and SAMHSA request for continued telehealth flexibilities, Members of US Congress
Re: RIN 1117-AB78/Docket No. DEA-948 – Expansion of Induction of Buprenorphine via Telemedicine Encounter, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Re: SB 66 Telehealth Law and Provisions Relating to Addiction Medicine, Louisiana Society of Addiction Medicine
Re: DEA and SAMHSA make telehealth flexibilities permanent, Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose (24 professional organizations)
Re: SB 66 Telehealth Law and Provisions Relating to Addiction Medicine, Louisiana Society of Addiction Medicine
Navigating the Complexities of Health Professions Education for Millennial and Generation Z Learners, Textbook for health professions educators
Opioid Settlement Funds
Opioid Litigation Proceeds Act of 2022, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Testimony on B24-0952
South Carolina’s Guide to Approved Uses for Investing Opioid Settlement Funds, South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
Nevada Opioid Needs Assessment and Statewide Plan 2022, State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services
Opioid Settlement Funds State Brief, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Government-Listed Resource: Virginia, Colorado, Maine, Bureau of Justice Assistance