Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab
The Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab (HQO) is a state-of-the-art health services research group that produces actionable evidence to improve the quality, equity, and resilience of healthcare delivery systems.
677 Huntington Ave.
Kresge Building, 4th Floor
Boston, MA
About Us
The research portfolio of the Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab (HQO) focuses on understanding the role of healthcare policy in promoting quality, equity, and resilience across our healthcare system.
Healthcare Equity and Quality
Our lab has a dedicated focus on improving care for vulnerable and underserved patient populations. We leverage administrative datasets to evaluate structural, financial, and practice-level drivers of variations in cost, quality, and patient outcomes within and between health care systems. Our research aims to improve the value and quality of medical and surgical care across the continuum, from inpatient to ambulatory settings. By generating empirical data on healthcare disparities, we aim to inform policies that improve equity in healthcare access and outcomes.
Featured Work
Healthcare Policy Evaluation
Our team provides actionable data to inform health policy efforts related to U.S. public insurance programs and delivery system reform. A core component of the HQO mission is the critical assessment of state and national health care policy. We leverage federal administrative data to support analyses of Medicare delivery system reform, Medicaid expansion, value-based care initiatives, and broader reforms to public insurance. Through international comparisons of high-income countries, our team also generates insights to inform health reform efforts in the U.S.
Featured Work
Healthcare System Adaptation and Resilience
HQO research informs efforts to prepare our healthcare system to face the next critical public health challenge, from pandemic surges to the growing threat of climate change. Emerging healthcare trends such as rising consolidation and financialization of the healthcare sector may also pose a growing threat to sustainability and equity. Leveraging the multidisciplinary expertise of our team, HQO evaluates the response of health systems to these shocks and trends to generate policy frameworks that build resilient systems capable of providing high quality, high value, and equitable care for patients.
Featured Work
Impact of extreme weather events on healthcare utilization and mortality in the United States
Nature Medicine, 2024
