The mission of the Center for Healthcare Studies at the Feinberg School of Medicine is to be the home for health services and outcomes research by coordinating, originating, and promoting inter-disciplinary, multi-departmental research and education for the purpose of improving safety, quality, equity, effectiveness and policy of healthcare.
—Jane L. Holl, MD Mph Director of the Center for Healthcare Studies
News and Highlights
Ruchi Gupta, MD MPH was interviewed this week on the NPR program “On Point” about food allergies in children. Click here to listen to the exciting interview via WBUR!
On February 12, 2013, Dr. Ruchi Gupta, Director of the Program for Maternal and Child Healthcare appeared on WGN News Midday Segment Focus on Family to talk about children and the dangers of food allergies, as well as highlights from her new book The Food Allergy Experience. Watch her via WGNtv.com.
On Monday November 12, 2012, Dr. Jane Holl and staff hosted an event to commemorate and say thank you to all the community members, stakeholders, hospitals, and researchers that contributed to the success of the National Children’s Study Greater Chicago Study Center (NCS-GCSC).
The National Children’s Study Appreciation Event included presentations from Jane Holl, MD, MPH, GCSC PI and Director, Center for Healthcare Studies, Arden Handler, DrPH, Co-Director, Maternal and Child Health Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Ann Borders, MD, MSc, MPH, Maternal/Fetal Medicine, Evanston Hospital, NorthShore University Health System, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. The evening was topped off with wonderful hors’doeuvres and a special NCS cake!
The NCS-GCSC was successful because of the substantial support from everyone involved. It was a great honor to hold this gathering as a way to say ‘thank you’ to all of the Study’s supporters.
Dr. Holl thanks everyone that was able to attend, and to those who could not attend, please know that you were greatly missed.
The Northwestern University Biomedical Informatics Center (NUBIC) announced last week that it has been awarded $3.695 million for the next year to continue to lead an Open Source Information Management System (IMS) Consortium for ten National Children’s Study (NCS) Site Locations. This initiative has resulted in the formation of the NCS Navigator Information Management Hub. NCS Navigator is an open source information management system that is ideally suited to provide operational and case management capabilities for the National Children’s Study. Northwestern University has been the lead institution for the NCS in the greater Chicago area under the leadership of Dr. Jane Holl, MD MPH. Dr. Holl and Dr. Richard Gershon, PhD have recently been awarded the South Regional Operations Center, enabling Northwestern to play a lead role in continuing the NCS at ten study locations in the south of the United States. Read more here.
Sherri L. LaVela, PhD, MPH, MBA, a faculty member of the Center for Healthcare Studies was recently awarded funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT) and Quality Enhancement Research Initiative. The 2-year center grant: ‘Center for Evaluation of Practices and Experiences of Patient-centered Care (CEPEP)” will evaluate the processes and outcomes of approaches to implementing patient-centered care and cultural transformation at the patient, family/caregiver, provider/employee, and system levels within and across the Veterans Health Administration Centers of Innovation to identify the most effective ways to change (improve) culture throughout the organization.
Three fellows in the Health Services and Outcomes Research Program, Stephanie Shintani Smith, MD, Kyle Zanocco, MD, and Chia-Chiang Wang, PhD, were recently awarded the Northwestern University EDW Young Investigator Seed Grant for their proposal, "Surgeon Influence on Anesthetic Efficiency in the Operating Room." They plan to investigate if characteristics and communication style of the surgeon significantly impacts anesthesia efficiency. The proposal was inspired by a group project in the fellowship Health Services Research Quality and Safety Topics Course, taught by fellowship director Jane Holl, MD.
Congratulations to Charlesnika T. Evans, PhD, MPH for being honored with an Outstanding Early-Career Scientist Award. Dr. Evans will be traveling to Washington next week to receive this special award from the White House. President Obama named 96 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.
Dr. Jane Holl, Director of the Institute of Healthcare Studies, appeared on WTTW's Chicago Tonight to talk about The National Children's Study. Watch her interview via WTTW.
Centers
Several members of the Chronic Disease Care and Outcomes Center have collaborated with fellow faculty in the Center for Healthcare Studies on a soon-to-be-published article in Pediatrics. Authors Min-Woong Sohn, Elissa Oh, Laura Amsden, and Jane Holl found that when mothers are on welfare work, their children are less likely to be vaccinated on time. Read more at Reuters.com.
Both WTTW's Chicago Tonight and the Chicago Sun-Times recently highlighted the report "A Profile of Health and Health Resources within Chicago’s 77 Communities." This study, conducted by Juliet Yonek, MPH and Romana Hasnain-Wynia, PhD examines the disparities of health resources throughout Chicago, and concludes that South and Southwest sides have the poorest health and resources in the city, especially in terms of breast cancer, HIV and other health issues. “We need to be thinking about how we are allocating our limited health care resources. I think if we hit the areas where there’s greatest need, where we know we can have a big impact, we can begin to see improvements over time in the health status of Chicago’s citizens and hopefully reduce the disparities that we know are very pervasive along the way," said Dr. Hasnain-Wynia, Director of the Center for Health Equity.
Still making headlines, Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Maternal-Child Healthcare, is publishing new research about food allergy prevalence and distribution; her report is discussed in the opening segment of the Colbert Report. Watch via ColbertNation.com. For more informtaion, view Dr. Gupta's Newshour interview via PBS or watch Chicago Tonight below, via WTTW.
Donna Woods, EdM PhD, Director of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Saftey Innovation, and a team of Co-Investigators at Northwestern were awarded one of the CHIPRA Pediatric Measures - Center of Excellence grants in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Medical Center (PI), the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This research team included faculty from the Institute of Healthcare Studies, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Hospital Medicine, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Maternal Fetal Medicine. Here is Dr. Woods' extraordinary team of Co-Investigators: Jane Holl, MD, MPH, Romana Hasnain-Wynia, PhD, Steve Persell, MD, Jin-Shei Lai, PhD, David Cella, PhD, Elizabeth Hahn, MA, Susan Magasi, PhD, Nan Rothrock, PhD, Mark Williams, MD, Susanna McColley, MD, Bill Grobman, MD MBA.
Larry Mannheim, PhD of the Health Economics Center, published an article on the impact of Medicare's prospective payment system for inpatient rehabilitation facilities on stroke patient outcomes. Find it on PubMed: 20068431.
EDUCATION
The Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety graduated its fifth class in JUne 2012. To recognize this important milestone, the program was featured in the Feinberg School of Medicine News. Please see article here.
Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety 2013 Summer Admission: March 30, 2013
Health Services and Outcomes Research 2013 Summer and Fall Admission: March 30, 2013
RESEARCH
Congratulations to Sheri LaVela, PhD, MPH, MBA, who was just awarded a VA Grant for a Patient-Centered Care Evaluation Center. The main goal of this center grant, CEPEP, is to evaluate the processes and outcomes of approaches to implementing patient-centered care and cultural transformation at the patient, family/caregiver, provider/employee, and system levels within and across the Veterans Health Administration Centers of Innovation to identify the most effective ways to change (improve) culture throughout the organization. Here are the specifics: PI: Sherri L. LaVela, PhD, MPH, MBA Title: Center for Evaluation of Practices and Experiences of Patient-centered Care (CEPEP) Amount: $996,852 Period: 01/2013-12/2014 Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT) and Quality Enhancement Research Initiative
Dr. Rahul Khare is the independant investigator on "Improving ED Quality and Safety by Enhancing Operations and Quality Management," which focuses on improving the care for patients coming to the Emergency Department (ED) with time-sensitive diseases. Funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Donna Woods EdM PhD,Director of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety Innovation and Daniela Ladner MD MPH, Director of NU Transplant Outcomes Research Collaboration are co-investigators on a study that builds on the strength of two unique collaborations: "Patient Safety System Improvements in Living Donor Liver Transplantation." Funded by National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Dieseases.
Jane Holl, MD MPH, Director of the Institute of Healthcare Studies, is the Principal Investiagtor for "Child Asthma Care Utilization: Role of Maternal Work, Welfare, and Source of Care," a study that seeks to understand the role of maternal work and welfare status and the role of the primary care provider site on the healthcare utilization of low-income, young children with asthma -- the leading childhood chronic illness in the United States. Funded by National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. More >
COLLABORATION
Recently, the Center of Healthcare Studies has fostered collaborations with the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, AETNA, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Children's Study, the National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More >
We welcome you to check back often for news and upcoming presentations, conferences and workshops.
Director of the Center for Healthcare Studies, recently spoke with WGN-TV about the National Children's Study, which will begin enrolling pregnant or soon to be pregnant Chicago-area women in the study. The goal of the Study is to improve the health and well-being of children and contribute to understanding the role various factors have on health and disease. "By participating in this study, women and their families can really contribute to understanding and improving the health of children in their neighborhoods and across the United States," said Dr. Holl. Read more at WGN.
Jane L. Holl, MD MPH Director Center for Healthcare Studies
Thursday Seminar Series
Every Thursday from 12:00pm – 1:00pm Baldwin Auditorium Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center 303 E Superior Street, Chicago, IL
UPCOMING Presentation:
June 20, 2013:
“Impact of the State Malpractice Environment on Healthcare Quality and Cost”
Karl Y. Bilimoria, MD, MS Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
The Center for Healthcare Studies recently placed second in participation for this year's United Way Campaign, with 51% of the department participating. This year, the Northwestern community raised $288,232 for United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Special thanks go to our Campaign Managers Emily Arntson and Rachel Thompson.
Contact Us:
Center for Healthcare Studies 750 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60611 (Phone) 312-503-5500
