Dr. Mitchell is an oncologist and health services researcher. He completed his clinical training at Duke University Hospital (Residency, internal medicine) and at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Fellowship, medical oncology). He received an MPH in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. His research interests are in understanding the interaction between financial incentives and physician behavior. He seeks to understand how changes to current reimbursement models for oncology services may be used to achieve better patient outcomes and reduce low-value care. 

His current projects include: 

1) Assessing the delivery of high-quality treatments across cancer types, measuring the frequency with which patients receive lower-quality treatments, and identifying the factors that determine whether patients receive high-quality or low-quality treatments; 

2) Measuring financial conflicts of interest among oncologists and the influence of these conflicts on clinical practice and guideline recommendations; 

3) Determining whether the profitability of different cancer drugs affects whether oncologists use them, and whether policy changes to how cancer drugs are reimbursed could improve outcomes and save money; and 

4) Improving the use of guideline-recommended supportive care medications for prostate cancer patients. 

His clinical interests are in genitourinary malignancies. He holds a co-appointment in the Genitourinary Oncology Service, treating patients with prostate cancer.