The Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy (HSRMP) recently concluded its Spring Scholar Speaker Series on Friday, April 21st, with a presentation by Dr. Aaron C. Spaulding, a Health Services Researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Health Services Researcher
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville
As part of the series, researchers from throughout Florida visited Gainesville for a day of scholarship, conversation, and engagement with faculty and students from the College of Public Health and Health Professions (PHHP). Dr. Molly Jacobs, Associate Professor in HSRMP, initiated the program which they plan to continue next year.
Last Friday Dr. Spaulding spoke about his research at the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. Specifically, he elaborated on the Kern Center’s aim of fostering a learning health system within the Mayo Clinic for the benefit of quality patient care and their mission to seamlessly integrate clinical practice, education, and research—the “three shields” of the Mayo Clinic.
A learning health system is a health system in which internal data and experience are systematically integrated with external evidence, and that knowledge is put into practice. As a result, patients receive higher quality, safer, more efficient care, and health care delivery organizations become better places to work. According to Dr. Spaulding, a learning health system can inform organizational efforts to reduce diagnostic error, promote the use of information technology to optimize care, and identify areas for improved measurement and analysis. Through their unique vantage point, learning health systems can seamlessly explore ways to improve the healthcare delivery experience.
“Dr. Spaulding’s lecture about learning health systems was fascinating,” mentioned Dr. Ara Jo, Clinical Assistant Professor from the department. “It provided insights to how evidence-based research is implemented and translated into a real healthcare system and proved how valuable research is for the improved delivery of healthcare systems.”
Other speakers in the series included Dr. Erin Mobley, assistant professor at the College of Medicine in Jacksonville, and Dr. Troy Quast, professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health.
“The Spring Scholar Speaker Series offers a unique opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to engage with scholars from a variety of different areas and institutions,” added Dr. Jacobs.
“The series offers a space for faculty, staff, and students to share their scholarship, develop novel research partnerships, and enhance their methodological and topical understanding.”
The next scholar speaker series will focus on Artificial Intelligence with dates to be announced for Fall 2023.
For more information about Dr. Spaulding and the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, see their website here.