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Photo Report: Poster Hall at AcademyHealth ARM 2024, Baltimore
Penn LDI Health Services Researchers Spotlight and Network Around Their Latest Work
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Three separate sessions at the 2024 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) displayed more than 1,700 abstract posters covering a wide range of health care’s most important research topics–from structural racism and work force issues, to women and gender health, and institutional organizational behavior and management. The work of LDI Fellows and associates was a significant presence across the Expo and Poster Hall. Here are some examples: (Click images for larger) ALSO SEE: Main story.
The way the support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Veterans Affairs supporting housing programs may be associated with changes in cardiovascular outcomes was the focus of this study by LDI Senior Fellow Sameed Khatana, MD, MPH. It found a significant decrease in the six-month probability of cardiovascular emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations in the housed intervention group. Khatana is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School. LDI Senior Fellows Peter Groeneveld, MD, MS, and Eric Roberts, PhD, were also involved in the work.
This study by LDI Senior Fellow Molly Candon, PhD, looked at pain care under managed care insurance plan designs and treatments for chronic low back pain. It found that more research is needed to gauge whether managed care contributed to the opioid crisis. Candon is the Director of the LDI Associate Fellows Program and an Assistant Professor at both the Perelman School and the Wharton School.
Former 2023 LDI Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research Program (SUMR) Scholar Kimi Li chats with LDI Senior Fellow Eileen Lake, PhD, RN about their study of nursing staffing levels at high Black-serving hospitals. They found nurse staffing was worse at those hospitals compared to other hospitals. Lake is the Associate Director of the Penn Nursing Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR).
Caroline Pascal, MPH, a Health Science Specialist at the Philadelphia Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center and LDI Senior Fellow Marilyn Schapira, MD, MPH at the poster of their study, “It’s in the Cards: Examining Post-Acute Care Priorities of Older Hospitalized Veterans from Diverse Backgrounds.” Schapira is a Professor of General Internal Medicine at the Perelman School. The study population that was seventy percent of non-white individuals said their three top priorities were trust in providers, not being a burden to others, and staying out of a care facility.
Displays of impersonal, insensitive, and cynical behavior towards colleagues and patients are increasing among health care professionals and was the subject of this study, explained LDI Associate Fellow Eda Algur, a dual MD/PhD student at the Perelman School and the Wharton School. Her team found that work-life balance and psychological safety predict callousness and that the type of work health care professionals engage in can interact with organizational factors to exacerbate callousness. Co-author on the work was LDI Senior Fellow Ingrid Nembhard, PhD, MS, a Professor of Health Care Management at the Wharton School.
Given that poor communication is recognized as a leading root cause of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality, LDI Senior Fellow Rebecca Clark, PhD, RN, and her team at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) studied the safety, quality and equity elements in maternal care hospital incident reports. They found the reports to be a promising source for informing system level interventions related to maternal care. Clark is an Assistant Professor of Family and Community Health at the Penn School of Nursing.
LDI Associate Fellow Douglas Strane, MPH, displayed a poster of a population study of childbirth-related opioid use. The work examined the relationship between opioid exposure at childbirth and subsequent persistent opioid use in the postpartum period. LDI Senior Fellows Meredith Matone, DrPH, MHS, and Zachary Meisel, MD, MPH, MSHP, were also members of the research team.
In a study exploring how health care navigation chat services handle gender affirming care access, LDI Senior Fellow Seul Ki Choi, PhD, MPH, and her team found multiple individual, social and systemic challenges to accessible gender-affirming care. An Assistant Professor of Family and Community Health at the Penn School of Nursing, she is also a core faculty member at the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative.
LDI Associate Fellow Jennifer Gil, MSN, RN, with a poster about a study examining system level interventions for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) to reduce non-emergency department (ED) use. Gil is a PhD Fellow at Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR).
LDI Statistical Analyst Eliza Macneal, MS, explains a project that analyzed three types of managed care plans providing incentives for the coordination of care across Medicare and Medicaid for dual-eligible nursing home residents. It found that there is a need for more evidence about these plans’ effects on patient care. Macneal was part of a research team that included LDI Senior Fellows Eric Roberts, PhD, and Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD.
Shira Blady, BS, and former 2019 LDI Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research Program (SUMR) Scholar Emma Britez Ferrante, BA, are members of the Joint Research Practices Working Group, a collaboration of two University of Pennsylvania research centers focused on developing guidelines for increasing diversity in clinical trials and other research study cohorts. Their poster details the program’s latest activities. The two LDI-affiliated centers are the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center, and the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE).
LDI Associate Fellow Kathy Sliwinski, PhD, MBE, RN, presents the poster study, “Leveraging the Nurse Work Environment to Reduce Disparities in Emergency Department Outcomes Among Individuals with and without Limited English Proficiency.” A team effort with LDI Associate Fellow K. Jane Muir, PhD, APRN, and LDI Senior Fellow Karen Lasater, PhD, RN, the analysis shows that patients with limited English proficiency have better outcomes and lower odds of a repeat emergency department visit in hospitals with high quality nursing environments.
LDI SUMR Scholar Aleia Manning chats with Julia Interrante, PhD, MPH, from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center about her study of the rural/urban differences in maternal health and health care use, as well as barriers to use. They are accompanied by Interrante’s 11-month-old daughter, Mia who is experiencing her first AcademyHealth conference.
LDI SUMR Scholar Nicholas Myers has an animated discussion with Chen-Yang Wang, MS, of the Institute of Health Policy and Management in the College of Public Health at the National Taiwan University. Wang’s study was a comparison of how patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) fared during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan versus in the United States. It concluded that MCC patients in the U.S. were more likely to delay needed care than those in Taiwan.
Chuxuan Sun, MPA, a Statistical Analyst at the Penn Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, explained the finding of the study which asked the question: “Which Nursing Homes Received (Pandemic era) Paycheck Protection Program Funding?” She was a member of the research team with LDI Senior Fellows Norma Coe, PhD, and Robert Burke, MD, MS.
LDI Statistical Analyst Seiyoun Kim, PhD, detailed her team’s study: “The Role of Physician Specialization on the Post-Acute Outcomes of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) in Skilled Nursing Facilities” study. She noted its “results do not align with previous studies that have found a correlation between physician specialization and improved patient outcomes.” LDI Senior Fellow Kira Ryskina, MD, MSHP, was a co-author on the work.
Author
Hoag Levins
Editor, Digital Publications
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