Xander Koolman

Xander Koolman serves as Full Professor of Health Economics and chairs the Health Economics section within the Department of Ethics, Governance and Society at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's School of Business and Economics. Holding a PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam (2006), he actively contributes to health economic policy through quantitative research at the intersection of institutional economics and applied health econometrics.

Education

• PhD in Health Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam (2006)

His research program investigates systemic healthcare challenges through methodologies including discrete choice experiments and observational studies. Key focus areas encompass regional variation in pediatric and rehabilitation services, financial incentive structures (particularly fee-for-service models), and non-medical determinants of aging-in-place. Recent work demonstrates increasing emphasis on implementation science for translating comparative effectiveness research into practice, utilizing co-creation methodologies and claims-based indicator development.

Analysis of his 2024-2025 publications reveals a strong policy orientation addressing Dutch healthcare sustainability, with recurring themes of cost containment, regional equity, and patient-centered care pathways. These works frequently employ Dutch nationwide datasets to examine real-world impacts of payment systems and monitoring frameworks.

Scientific Awards

• Lecturer of the year 2008
• Egon Jonsson Award 2011 for excellence in Technology Assessment in Health Care
• Runner-up for best paper (2018)

Professor Koolman has supervised 10 PhD theses and currently leads four research projects including ZorgInst. Nederland (risk equalization modeling) and MIN VWS monitoring tools development. His policy engagement spans expert roles in national initiatives like the 'Expertteam COVID-zorg' and 'Hervormingsagenda Jeugd', with frequent testimony before the Dutch Parliament and Ministry of Health on healthcare financing sustainability.

As section chair, he directs VU's Health Economics research group whose work directly contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being), particularly through projects analyzing equitable access and efficient resource allocation in aging populations.