Making outpatient clinic care more consistent and fair
Standardizing the Quality of Care in Ambulatory Practices
Using medical visit records from millions of patients to find and reduce differences in outpatient care across clinics, especially those tied to insurance and location.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11044068 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project examines past outpatient visit records for about 12 million patients from five New York City medical centers to identify where care varies by insurance, location, and clinic type. Researchers will pair this city-wide data with detailed information on clinic organization, processes, and policies within the Mount Sinai Health System. Because Mount Sinai is implementing system-wide changes to standardize care, the team will also observe how those changes affect quality measures like preventive care. The aim is to spot clinic-level differences that can be changed to make care more equitable and reliable for patients.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients receiving outpatient care at hospital-based or faculty clinics in New York City—especially those treated within Mount Sinai or the other participating centers and across different insurance types—are most directly represented.
Not a fit: People who only receive inpatient care, live outside the participating health systems or geographic area, or whose care is not captured in these records may not directly benefit from the findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could make outpatient care more consistent across clinics and improve preventive care and health outcomes for patients.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has documented differences in care across clinics and patient groups, but large-scale, system-wide standardization efforts are less commonly tested, making this both evidence-based and somewhat novel.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bickell, Nina a. — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Bickell, Nina a.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.