Want to stay in the know? We share news stories and publications about work happening at the Center for Insights to Outcomes, the Nudge Unit, Way to Health, the Population Health Lab, the Center for Health Justice, and the Center for Precision Resource Utilization each month. Subscribe to receive the CHTI Month in Review newsletter and add us to your contact list to ensure that messages make it to your inbox.
Many public benefits go unclaimed by emergency care patients
Researchers led by CHTI's Austin Kilaru found that emergency department (ED) patients with public or no health insurance were often eligible for unclaimed state or federal benefits, and that many patients were interested in getting help from a hospital-based team to apply for their missing benefits. Upcoming work will test strategies to connect ED patients with such benefits.
Shivan Mehta named Distinguished Investigator by the Association for Clinical and Translational Science
Shivan Mehta was recognized for his work leading research, implementation, and broad application of clinical solutions in areas such as cancer screening, vaccine outreach, and hypertension management.
Machine learning models fail to predict depression in Black social media users
A study by CHTI's Sharath Guntuku and colleagues found that computational models trained to detect depression from social media posts failed to predict depression among Black users. The researchers identified race-based differences in the expression of depression and underscored the need to understand such differences before these AI methods are used in clinical practice.
PORTAL program will advance "learning health system" science at Penn
Funded by a $5 million grant, the Penn PORTAL program will support training and research to accelerate "learning health system" science – in which internal data and experience are integrated with external evidence, and that knowledge is put into practice – at Penn Medicine and in the wider Philadelphia region. Nudge Unit faculty director Kit Delgado is a co-lead of the program, and the Nudge Unit will provide guidance on innovation management and design strategy for PORTAL pilots.
Small gifts for hospital patients bring big smiles
The PennHOPES program, supported by CHTI, aims to brighten the experiences of patients by reimbursing providers for small, personal gifts purchased for patients with long hospital stays.