The 5th Annual Health Services Research Day – Improving Outcomes and Value of Healthcare

On May 9, the Emory University Department of Medicine and the Georgia CTSA hosted the 5th Annual Health Services Research Day at the Emory University School of Medicine. The annual interprofessional symposium featured opportunities for attendees to network with fellow researchers, learn about ongoing quality, effectiveness, and value-based research activities across the state. Approximately 140 attendees from across Georgia participated in the half-day event which featured three scientific sessions and 47 poster presentations.

Xingyu Zhang, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Surgery, took home the first place for his poster presentation on “Use of clinical notes on electronic medical record data to improve prediction of 30-day hospital readmission after kidney transplantation.” Dian Dowling Evans, PhD, clinical professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, won the second place for her presentation regarding “The emergency department as setting for female pelvic examination.”

“Poster presentations are an excellent way for researchers to share findings and display their work. I found the poster session to be engaging, it encouraged new conversations, and fostered collaborations within the research community,” says an event attendee.

This year’s theme “Improving Outcomes and Value of Healthcare” focused on interactive discussions, the generation of novel approaches to quality, and value-based research and stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration across the Georgia CTSA.

The symposium’s first session on healthcare structure was moderated by Nikhila Raol, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology. Featured speakers included Janet Cummings, PhD, associate professor in the Rollins School of Public Health; Anne Gaglioti, MD, assistant professor in the Morehouse School of Medicine; and Martha Wetzel, BA, graduate research assistant in the Rollins School of Public Health.

Moderated by Neal Dickert, Jr., MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, the symposium’s second session on processes and access to care featured presentations from Molly Perkins, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics; Donglan “Stacy” Zhang, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Georgia; and Xingyu Zhang, PhD.

Following the second session, this year’s keynote speaker Rachel Werner, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, presented “What is the value of post-acute care? Evidence from Medicare.” Werner’s research seeks to understand the effect of provider payment on health care organization and delivery, focusing on hospital and post-acute care settings. In particular, she has examined the role of quality improvement incentives on provider behavior, racial disparities, and overall health care quality.

The final session on outcomes of healthcare was moderated by Michal Horný, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, and presented by Megha Shah, MD, MSC, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine; Sierra Gaffney, BS, graduate teaching assistant in the Rollins School of Public Health; and Wairimu Magua, PhD, MS, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Surgery. Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, director of Emory’s new combined Department of Medicine/Department of Surgery Health Services Research Center, and Jason Hockenberry, PhD, associate professor in the Rollins School of Public Health, concluded the event by announcing the two poster award winners, Zhang and Evans.

“This meeting was incredibly insightful for me,” another participant said. “I met many new people and had a chance to see different methodology that I may use in the future.”

More photos from this year’s Health Services Research Day can be found in the Department of Medicine Flickr album.