Understanding Health Care Outcomes Research

'Robert Kane, MD, holds an endowed chair in Long-term Care and Aging at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where he was formerly the Dean. He directs the University of Minnesota's Center on Aging, the Minnesota Area Geriatric Education Center, the Clinical Outcomes Research Center, and an AHRQ-funded Evidence-based Practice Center. He has conducted numerous research studies on both the clinical care and the organization of care for older persons, especially those needing long-term care. He is the author or editor of 31 books and more than 470 journal articles and book chapters on geriatrics and health services research. He has analyzed long-term systems both in this country and abroad. Recent books include The Heart of Long-term Care, Assessing Older Persons, the 6th edition of Essentials of Clinical Geriatrics, the 2nd edition of Conducting Health Care Outcomes Research, and Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness. He and his sister, Joan West, have written an account of the struggles to get adequate long-term care for their mother, It Shouldn't Be This Way. That experience led to his founding a national organization dedicated to improving long-term care, Professionals with Personal Experience with Chronic Care (PPECC), which has over 800 members. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School.'''''''''''' His current research addresses both acute and long-term care for older persons, with special attention to the role of managed care, chronic disease, and disability, as well as systematic reviews of the literature on various topics. Dr. Kane has consulted to a number of national and international agencies, including the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Aging. He has received the President's Award from the American Society on Aging and the Polisher Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the Enrico Greppi Prize from the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and the British Geriatrics Society Medal for the Relief of Suffering amongst the Aged. He was elected to the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center's Academy for Excellence in Health Research.