Overview
Richard C. “Chad” Mather III MD, MBA is an assistant professor and vice chairman of practice innovation in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine. He is also a faculty member at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Dr. Mather is a health services researcher and decision scientist with a focus on economic analysis, health policy, health preference measurement and personalized decision-making. His current work focuses on building tools for healthcare consumerism by facilitating measurement and communication of individual patient preferences in treatment decisions. Additionally, he has great interest in health innovation, particularly in developing new care and payment models to foster different incentives and practice approaches. He was a health policy fellow with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Arthroscopy Association of North America. Dr. Mather received an undergraduate degree in economics from Miami University and a medical doctorate and masters in business administration from Duke, where he also completed residency training in orthopaedic surgery. He completed a sports medicine fellowship at Rush University Medical Center. His clinical practice focuses on hip arthroscopy including both FAI and extra-articular hip endoscopy. Specifically to the hip in addition to health service research applications he conducts translational research on biomarkers and hip instability.
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Recent Publications
Patient-reported outcomes of a comprehensive management program for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.
Journal Article Osteoarthr Cartil Open · March 2026 OBJECTIVE: This study describes the 2-year self-reported joint function outcomes of patients enrolled in a US-based comprehensive hip and knee osteoarthritis management program (OAMP), and demographic characteristics associated with change in function. DES ... Full text Link to item CiteTelehealth physical examinations show comparable accuracy and results to clinical exams for MRI confirmed shoulder pathologies.
Journal Article J Telemed Telecare · September 25, 2025 IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to measure the comparative diagnostic accuracy of telehealth diagnostic examinations for pathologies of the shoulder against an in-person examination. The telehealth examinations were hypothesized to be non-inferior ... Full text Link to item CiteElevated body mass index and obesity are associated with pain-associated psychological distress in patients with hip pain.
Journal Article Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · December 12, 2024 INTRODUCTION: Little research has investigated the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and body mass index (BMI) in the context of pain-associated psychological distress. This study aims to determine if independent associations exist between BMI, obe ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Cost-Effectiveness of Advanced Imaging to Assess Rotator Cuff Integrity Prior to Shoulder Arthroplasty
ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by Piedmont Orthopedic Foundation · 2021 - 2023Hip imaging with MR
ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by Stryker Corporation · 2019 - 2023Fresh Tissue Lab Agreement
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Stryker Corporation · 2022 - 2022View All Grants