FEATURE STORIES

Black Maternity Patients More Likely to Experience Clinical Communications Failures

A study of inpatient maternity care incident notes by Rebecca Clark and Rebecca Hamm found that Black women were the subject of 38% of incident reports involving communication among the health care team members taking care of them.

Family Care Plus Formal Care Makes a Difference

Norma B. Coe drew on her personal caregiving experience for her recent study, which found that combining family care with formal care at home leads to better patient outcomes than either approach alone.

Uneven Access to Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder

Maggie Lowenstein, Shoshana Aronowitz, and David Grande simulated the experience of a patient seeking care and found that, while rapid access to buprenorphine for OUD was available in Philadelphia, most clinics failed to communicate key information needed to make informed treatment decisions.

Hospital Investments in Nursing Services

A recent study by K. Jane Muir, Karen Lasater, and colleagues examined hospital ownership and nursing services investments across Illinois, finding that for-profit hospitals consistently demonstrated lower investment levels in nursing than not-for-profit hospitals. 

NICU Parents Often Neglect Their Own Health Care

Heather Burris described her team’s PeliCaN Trial, a pilot randomized controlled study designed to improve access to postpartum care for parents of NICU infants via doulas and midwives.

 2025 ACADEMYHEALTH ANNUAL RESEARCH MEETING

PHOTOS: LDI Fellows and Students at AcademyHealth

Research by more than 100 Penn LDI Fellows was represented at the 2025 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting from June 7-10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Check out photos, poster presentations, and more from the event.

SUMR Program Celebrates 25 Years and Wins AcademyHealth Award

LDI and Wharton's Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) Program won AcademyHealth’s 2025 Mosaic Award for its work and commitment to creating a more representative and welcoming experience for undergraduates interested in health services research.

 UPCOMING EVENTS

Decoding the Moment: Health Impacts of the "One Big Beautiful Bill"

Wednesday, June 18, 2025
12:00–12:45 p.m. ET

A Conversation with Eric Roberts, PhD, Aditi Vasan, MD, MSHP, Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD, and Dan Gorenstein, presented by Penn LDI and Tradeoffs.

Virtual event open to the public.

IN THE MEDIA

“How Cutting Medicaid Could Upend Long-Term Care for Many Older Americans.” Rachel M. Werner. PBS News

“Inside PHA’s $6.3 Billion Plan to Save Public Housing.” Vincent Reina. The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Most U.S. Workers Struggle With Their Schedules. Here’s Why Employers Should Care.” Guy David. CNN

“Counting The Potential Casualties of the One Big Beautiful Bill.” Eric T. Roberts. Undark

PUBLICATIONS

“Improving Nephrology Care for People With Cognitive Impairments and Their Caregivers.” Laura N. Gitlin, Nancy A. Hodgson. Nature Reviews Nephrology

“Access to Surgical Care After Newly Acquired Insurance Enrollment.” Angela T. Chen, Diane Haddad, Ella Eisinger, M. Kit Delgado, Joseph A. Kern, Lisa M. Knowlton, Deacon Lile, Anna U. Morgan, Omar I. Ramadan, Lin Xu, Elinore J. Kaufman. Annals of Surgery

“Patient Dignity in Long-Term Recovery Among Survivors of Acute Respiratory Failure: A Prospective Cohort Study.” Rachel Kohn, Craig Kwiatkowski, Yingying Lu, Taara V. Prasad , Erich Dress, Stefania Scott, Michael O. Harhay, Rachel A. Hadler. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

“Association of Nurse Work Environment, Staffing, and Skill Mix With Length of Stay for Patients With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” Lynne Moronski, Jesse L. Chittams, Eileen T. Lake, Matthew D. McHugh. Medical Care

“Midurethral Sling vs OnabotulinumtoxinA in Females With Urinary Incontinence: The MUSA Randomized Clinical Trial.” Heidi S. Harvie, Shawn A. Menefee, Holly E. Richter, Vivian W. Sung, Christopher J. Chermansky, David D. Rahn, Cindy L. Amundsen, Lily A. Arya, Evan Rhodes, Donna Mazloomdoost, Sonia Thomas. JAMA

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