Project Description
’Values Added:’ Utilization and Effect of a ‘Patient Values Tab’ in the Electronic Health Record
High-quality
care for cancer and other serious illnesses is “person-centered,” supporting
each patient as a unique individual and integrating the patient’s
health-related values. Yet, the typical electronic health record (EHR) is
poorly designed to display information needed for person-centered care, which
may particularly disadvantage patients from underrepresented minority groups,
for whom such information may be further limited by mistrust, low health
literacy, inadequate clinician training in culturally-sensitive communication,
and other factors. Dr. Desai has been instrumental in developing a major
palliative care innovation in the EHR at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center, the “Patient Values Tab,” which centralizes/facilitates clinician
access to key information for person-centered care. As implementation of this
innovation goes forward, Dr. Desai will pursue a synergistic program of career
development and research based on the Health Equity Implementation Framework,
with the overall goal of promoting clinicians’ adoption of the Values Tab while
improving equity in person-centered care. Further training in key relevant
areas (Health Disparities Research, Dissemination & Implementation Science,
and Health Informatics Research), along with this research experience guided by
a superb team of interdisciplinary and interprofessional mentors with
complementary expertise, will advance Dr. Desai on her path to becoming an independent
palliative care investigator. The research will use mixed methods to address
the following Specific Aims: 1) Elicit perspectives of Black and Latinx cancer patients on relevance,
acceptability, and importance of Values Tab content as a composite of
information supporting person-centered care; 2) Examine oncologist adoption of the Tab to
identify patterns as well as barriers and facilitators for broad and equitable
implementation in clinical care; and 3) Evaluate impact of Tab adoption
by oncologists on perceptions of person-centeredness of care as reported by
diverse cancer patients and their oncologists. Methods, findings, and
deliverables will have broader impact beyond this specific intervention and
institution, informing effective and equitable implementation of existing and
emerging digital palliative care innovations in a wide variety of care
settings.
Bio
Anjali
Varma Desai, MD, MSCE, is an Attending Physician on the Supportive Care and
Hospital Medicine Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). She
received a BA degree with Distinction in History of Science, History of
Medicine from Yale University, a medical degree from the New York University
(NYU) School of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology
& Health Services Research from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical
Sciences. She completed her Internal Medicine residency training at the NYU
School of Medicine, after which she completed a yearlong Research Fellowship,
followed by a Clinical Fellowship, in Hospice & Palliative Medicine at MSK.
She joined the MSK faculty with a dual appointment in Supportive Care and
Hospital Medicine in 2018. Her investigative interests lie at the intersection
between palliative care, digital innovation and health equity implementation
science. In particular, Dr. Desai’s research focuses on leveraging digital
health interventions to promote health equity in the delivery of palliative
care, including person-centered care that is concordant with a patient's core values,
goals and personhood.
Email: desaia2@mskcc.org