Marlon Mundt, PhD

Dr. Marlon Mundt, Ph.D., is a Professor (tenured) in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), with a secondary appointment in the UW Department of Population Health Sciences (PHS). Dr. Mundt is also the Director of Health Economics at the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI).

Research Interests and Experience

Dr. Mundt has been a productive principal investigator, collaborator, and co-investigator on fifteen National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grants and scores of other research projects totaling more than $47 million in overall combined NIH and other agency funding. His research is focused on three broad aims: (1) to determine the cost-effectiveness of various smoking cessation treatments for socio-economically disadvantaged US adults who smoke; (2) to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Electronic Health Record (EHR) clinical decision support (CDS) screen alerts, artificial intelligence (AI) natural language processing (NLP) automated CDS approaches, and mobile health (mHealth) applications designed to improve patient outcomes; and (3) to facilitate health system improvements targeting higher quality of care delivery at lower medical costs.

Dr. Mundt has published over 110 peer-reviewed scholarly articles in a variety of multidisciplinary professional journals including American Journal of Managed Care, Value in Health, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Annalpresentas of Family Medicine, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Health Affairs, Alcoholism-Clinical & Experimental Research, International Journal of Nursing Studies and Injury Prevention, among others. Dr. Mundt’s research excellence in the areas of health economics, substance use disorder, and health systems improvements is illuminated by his high Google Scholar h-index of 45 (a measure of both the productivity and citation impact of the publications of a scholar).

Dr. Mundt’s research demonstrates that financial incentives for tobacco treatment engagement among Medicaid recipients who smoke is a cost-effective approach to increasing smoking abstinence and reducing health harms. Dr. Mundt’s cost-benefit analyses of financial incentives to increase Medicaid enrollees’ engagement with evidence-based smoking cessation treatment advocate for implementation strategies with rapid dissemination potential to reduce health disparity nationwide. His work informs the health equity imperative by increasing policy makers’ understanding of the health and budget impact of incentivizing evidence-based tobacco cessation treatment engagement among Medicaid enrollees who smoke. This research increases treatment exposure and health equity by reducing smoking prevalence, harms, and associated medical costs for socioeconomically disadvantaged US adults who smoke. Dr. Mundt’s research has gained considerable attention by appearing on the first page of the Wisconsin State Journal and in the La Crosse Tribune.

Dr. Mundt’s work has impacted real-life discussion in the national news media about prevention efforts and the enormous medical costs inflicted by binge alcohol drinking as reported by National Public Radio, US News and World Report and NBC News, among others. Dr. Mundt’s health economic analysis was instrumental in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “B” grade recommendation that all adult primary care patients receive screening for problem alcohol use and that at-risk drinkers receive brief alcohol intervention counseling. Grade “B” indicates that USPSTF views the benefit from universal alcohol screening as moderate to substantial.

Dr. Mundt’s recent studies evaluate team-based primary care, the foundation of relationship-centered care delivery for primary care patients with chronic illness. His studies determine how communication networks in primary care teams are related to electronic health records (EHR)-documented biometric outcomes for patients with chronic illness (e.g., cardiovascular (CVD), diabetes). Notably, more interconnected primary care teams with more members who engage with others in frequent daily communication about patient care, deliver higher-value, cost-effective quality of care to their patients. As an example, having an additional care team member with frequent daily communication ties across the whole team was associated with medical cost reduction of $1220 per patient with diabetes and of $556 per patient with CVD in lower patient health care costs in the past 12-month period. To put these results in perspective, $52 million and $39 million in ambulatory care sensitive emergency department visits and hospital stays could be saved for patients with diabetes and CVD, respectively, at UW Health, an integrated health care system of UW, if primary care practitioners communicated frequently daily with all team members about patient care.

In addition, Dr. Mundt was the lead author on the cost-effectiveness of the QUITS study, recently published in JAMA Network Open (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2817927). QUITS compared standard tobacco cessation varenicline monotherapy treatment for 12 weeks versus 24 weeks. The pharmacotherapy regiments were also contrasted with varenicline therapy in combination with nicotine patches for those same lengths. Varenicline monotherapy for 12 weeks was the most beneficial and most cost-effective treatment option.

Presentations

Mundt MP. Tobacco Cessation Treatment from an Economic Perspective: Too Much, Too Little or Just Right? University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI) Webinar. Madison, WI, August 1, 2024.

Dr. Mundt’s UW-Madison research presentations are available at: http://videos.med.wisc.edu/presenters/2874

Educational Activities

As an educator, Dr. Mundt teaches a Population Health Sciences graduate course, PHS-819, “Social Networks and Health” and mentors clinical faculty, fellows, residents, medical students, UW graduate and undergraduate students.

Dr. Mundt’s lecture series “Social Network Analysis in Health” is available at: https://www.hipxchange.org/SocialNetworkAnalysis

In The News

Tobacco Cessation Program in Primary Care Cost-Effective, Increased Cessation Rates (https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20231026/tobacco-cessation-program-in-primary-care-costeffective-increased-cessation-rates)

Study: Offering Incentives to Pregnant Medicaid Members Works
UW study: Incentives help pregnant women stop smoking, save Medicaid money

Select Publications (2012-present)

Mundt MP, Stein JH, Fiore MC, Baker TB. Economic evaluation of enhanced vs standard varenicline treatment for tobacco cessation. JAMA Network Open 2024;7(4):e248727. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.8727

Mundt MP, McCarthy DE, Baker TB, Zehner M, Zwaga DP, Fiore MC. Cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive electronic health record-enabled smoking treatment program in primary care clinics. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2024; 66(3):435-443. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.10.011

Temte J, Checovich M, Mundt MP, Barlow S, Hamrick I, Reisdorf E. Rapid detection of influenza outbreaks in long term care facilities reduces emergency room visits and hospitalization. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2023; 5(23):S1525-8610. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2023.05.035

Afshar M, Adelaine S, Resnik F, Mundt MP, Long J, Leaf M, Patterson B, Churpek M, Schnapp B, Chao M, Brown R, Burnside E, Joyce C, Mahoney J, Liao F. Protocol for a real-time electronic health record implementation of a natural language processing and deep learning clinical decision support tool: A use-case for an opioid misuse screener in hospitalized adults. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2023; 11(2023):e44977. doi: 10.2196/44977

Johnson ALP, Seep E, Norton DL, Mundt MP, Wyman MF, James TT, Zuelsdorff M, Lambrou NH, Umucu E, Gleason CE. Wisconsin healthcare utilization cost among American Indians/Alaskan Natives with and without ADRD. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 2023; 91(1):183-189. doi: 10.3233/JAD-220393

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. Opportunity loss: Care team job satisfaction and urgent care, emergency department, and hospital costs for patients with cardiovascular disease. Family Practice 2022; doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmac023

Brzozowski SL, Cho H, Shuman C, Scott LD, Mundt MP, Steege LM. Primary care nurses’ perception of leadership and the influence of individual and work setting characteristics: A descriptive study. Journal of Nursing Management 2022; 2022:1-12. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13752

Mundt MP, Fiore MC, Piper ME, Adsit RT, Kobinsky KH, Alaniz KM, Baker TB. Cost-effectiveness of stop smoking incentives for Medicaid-enrolled pregnant women. Preventive Medicine 2021; 153:106777. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106777

Mundt MP, Baker TB, Piper ME, Smith SS, Fraser DL, Fiore MC. Financial incentives to Medicaid smokers for engaging in tobacco quit line treatment: Maximizing return on investment. Tobacco Control 2020; 29:320–325. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/29/3/320.full

Akhtar WZ, Mundt MP, Koepke R, Krechel S, Fiore MC, Seal DW, Westergaard RP. High prevalence of tobacco use among people who inject drugs in rural communities. JAMA Network Open 2020; 3(3):e200493. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2762499

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. Professional communication networks and job satisfaction in U.S. primary care clinics. Annals of Family Medicine 2019; 17(5):428-435. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7032905/

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. Adolescent friendship formation and mental health: A stochastic actor-based model of help-seeking behavior. Journal of Social Structure 2019; 20(3):50-69. https://www.exeley.com/journal_of_social_structure/pdf/10.21307/joss-2019-006

Mundt MP, Baker TB, Fraser DL, Smith SS, Piper ME, Fiore MC. Paying low-income smokers to quit? The cost-effectiveness of incentivizing tobacco quit line engagement for Medicaid recipients who smoke. Value in Health 2019; 22(2):177-184.

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. Putting the pieces together: EHR communication and diabetes patient outcomes. American Journal of Managed Care 2018; 24(10):462-468.

Mundt MP, Antonaccio OP, French MT, Zakletskaia LI. Adolescent friendship group cohesion and weapons-related crime as a young adult. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 2017; 46(8):1643-1660. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10964-017-0631-6.pdf

Zgierska AE, Ircink J, Burzinski CA, Mundt MP. Cost of opioid-treated chronic low back pain: Findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation-based intervention. Journal of Opioid Management 2017; 13(3):169-181. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836724/

Mundt MP, Agneessens F, Tuan WJ, Zakletskaia LI, Kamnetz SA, Gilchrist VJ. Primary care team communication networks, team climate, quality of care, and medical costs for patients with diabetes: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 2016; 58(2016):1-11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4835690/pdf/nihms758468.pdf

Shoham D, Harris J, Mundt MP, McGaghie W. A network model of communication in an interprofessional team of healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study of a burn unit. Journal of Interprofessional Care 2016; 30(5):661-667. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27436781

Rabago D, van Leuven L, Benes L, Fortney L, Slattengren A, Grettie J, Mundt MP. Qualitative assessment of patients receiving prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis in a multi-method study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2016; 22(12):983-989. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5175418/pdf/acm.2016.0164.pdf

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI, Shoham DA, Tuan WJ, Carayon P. Together achieving more: Primary care team communication and alcohol-related healthcare utilization and costs. Alcoholism-Clinical & Experimental Research 2015; 39(10):2003-2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592408/

Mundt MP, Gilchrist VJ, Fleming MF, Zakletskaia LI, Tuan WJ, Beasley JW. Effects of primary care team social networks on quality of care and costs for patients with cardiovascular disease. Annals of Family Medicine 2015; 13(2):139-148. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369607/pdf/0130139.pdf

Shoham DA, Mundt MP, Gamelli RL, McGaghie WC. The social network of a burn unit team. Journal of Burn Care & Research 2015; 36(5):551–557. https://doi.org/10.1097/BCR.0000000000000218

Rabago D, Mundt MP, Zgierska A, Grettie J. Hypertonic dextrose injection (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: Long term outcomes. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2015, 23(3):388-395. https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0965229915000618/1-s2.0-S0965229915000618-main.pdf?_tid=a179b8d1-c292-4789-baab-fb28cfa85462&acdnat=1533920835_07d81bc33fd5c6e1835d0fcb815723fb

Hayer SD, Rabago D, Amaza IP, Kille T, Coe C, Zgierska A, Zakletskaia L, Mundt MP, Krahn D, Molander R. Effectiveness of nasal irrigation for chronic rhinosinusitis and fatigue in patients with Gulf War illness: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials 2015, 41(2015):219-226. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1551714415000208?via%3Dihub

Pietruszewski PB, Mundt MP, Hadzic S, Brown RL. Staffing collaborative care for depression. Psychiatric Services 2015; 66(1):101-103. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25269565

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. That’s what friends are for: Adolescent peer social status, health-related quality of life and health-care costs. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy 2014; 12(2):191-201. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3972808/pdf/nihms-566752.pdf

Zgierska A, Amaza IP, Brown RL, Mundt MP, Fleming MF. Unhealthy drug use: How to screen, when to intervene. Journal of Family Practice 2014; 63(9):524-530. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4532724/pdf/JFP-63-524.pdf

Rabago D, Patterson JJ, Mundt MP, Zgierska A, Grettie J, Fortney L, Kijowski R. Dextrose and morrhuate sodium injections (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: A prospective open label trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2014; 20(5):383-391. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4011421/pdf/acm.2013.0225.pdf

Mundt MP, French MT. Adolescent alcohol use, sociability and income as a young adult. Applied Economics 2013; 45:3329-3339. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3439205/

Rakel D, Mundt MP, Ewers T, Fortney L, Zgierska A, Gassman M, Barrett B. Value associated with mindfulness meditation and moderate exercise intervention in acute respiratory infection: The MEPARI Study. Family Practice 2013; 30(4):390-397. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722506/pdf/cmt008.pdf

Rabago D, Patterson J, Mundt MP, Kijowski R, Grettie-Belling J, Segal N, Zgierska A. Dextrose prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial. Annals of Family Medicine 2013; 11(3):229-237. http://www.annfammed.org/content/11/3/229.full.pdf

Rabago D, Kijowski R, Woods M, Patterson JJ, Mundt MP, Zgierska A, Grettie J, Lyftogt J, Fortney L. Association between disease-specific quality-of-life and magnetic resonance imaging outcomes in a clinical trial of prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2013; 94(11):2075-82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3812343/pdf/nihms504152.pdf

Mundt MP, Mercken L, Zakletskaia L. Peer selection and influence effects on adolescent alcohol use: a stochastic actor-based model. BMC Pediatrics 2012; 12:115. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469361/pdf/1471-2431-12-115.pdf

Mundt MP, Parthasarathy S, Chi F, Sterling S, Campbell C. 12-step participation reduces medical utilization costs among adolescents with a history of chemical dependency treatment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2012; 126(1):124-130. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3430743/pdf/nihms378168.pdf

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia L. Prevention for college students who suffer alcohol-induced blackouts could deter high-cost emergency department visits. Health Affairs 2012; 31(4):863-870. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3360520/pdf/nihms-378165.pdf

Mundt MP, Zakletskaia L, Brown D, Fleming M. Alcohol-induced memory blackouts as an indicator of injury risk among college drinkers. Injury Prevention 2012; 18(1):44-49. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210864/pdf/nihms312868.pdf

Rabago D, Zgierska A, Fortney L, Kijowski R, Mundt MP, Ryan M, Grettie J, Patterson JJ. Hypertonic dextrose injections (prolotherapy) for knee osteoarthritis: Results of a single-arm uncontrolled study with 1-year follow-up. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2012; 18(4):408-414. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326267/pdf/acm.2011.0030.pdf

Dr. Mundt’s full list of publications is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1vwGWYsypkMAb/collections/47421721/public/

Dr. Mundt’s Google Scholar citations are available at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VahN820AAAAJ&hl=en

Select Funded Research (2012-present)

“Enhancing Engagement in HIV Care Using an Integrated Mobile Health System” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, Grant No. DA197573, $1,575,000 from 4/2022 to 3/27, Co-Investigator).

“Decreasing Antibiotic Prescribing in Acute Respiratory Infections through Implementation of Nurse-Driven Clinical Decision Support” (National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Grant No. AI108680, $795,000 from 2/19 to 1/25, Co-Investigator).

“Community-Based, Client-Centered Prevention Homes to Address the Rural Opioid Epidemic” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, Grant No. UG3 DA044826, $3,730,353 from 9/17 to 8/22, Co-Investigator).

“A Comparative Effectiveness Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Opioid-Treated Chronic Low Back Pain” (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Grant No. OPD-1601-33860, $8,412,113 from 1/17 to 12/21, Co-Investigator).

“Madison Addiction Recovery Initiative (MARI)” (US Department of Justice, $700,000 from 1/17 to 12/19, Co-Investigator).

“Rapid Assessment of and Prophylaxis for Influenza in Dwellers of Long-Term Care Facilities (RAPID-LTCF)” (UW School of Medicine and Public Health Wisconsin Partnership Program, $500,000 from 11/16 to 10/19, Co-Investigator).

“Instrument Development for a Social Network Analysis (SNA) of Antibiotic Prescribing in Skilled Nursing Facilities” (UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, $75,000 from 7/17 to 6/18, Co-Investigator).

“Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Wisconsin CMS Medicaid Quitline Incentive Project” (University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, $150,000 from 4/17 to 3/19, Principal Investigator).

“Maximizing Outcomes and Safety of Long-Term Opioid Therapy in Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: Clinician Adherence to Evidence-Based Treatment Guidelines” (Pfizer, Grant No. WI194536, $83,347 from 10/16 to 9/18, Co-Investigator).

“Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment-Training” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Grant No. TI025933, $314,953 from 9/15 to 8/17, Co-Investigator).

“Meditation and Exercise for the Prevention of Acute Respiratory Infection 2” (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Grant No. R01 AT006970, $726,902 from 7/12 to 6/17, Co-Investigator).

“Economic Evaluation of Adolescent Alcohol Use and the Impact of Social Networks” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Grant No. K01 AA018410, $804,738 from 8/09 to 7/14, Principal Investigator).