Research Statement
I am a health services researcher, clinically trained as a Physical Therapist, and with graduate training in epidemiology and population health. I am deeply committed to a career in enhancing healthcare of older populations.
I gained experience using survey and administrative data during my MPH, Ph.D., and postdoc training. My doctoral research revealed that adding patient physical functional status in the current risk adjustments models, such as CMS-Hierarchical Condition Categories (CMS-HCC), Charlson Index, and Elixhauser comorbidity index improves the ability to predict discharge to the community and 30-day hospital readmission.
I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gerontology at Health Care Research at Brown University. During my postdoc fellowship, I empirically compared two Medicare Advantage (MA) and traditional Fee-For-Service (FFS) plans for post-acute care utilization and patient outcomes. After my fellowship, I received two R03 grants from the National Institutes of Health to support my research on variations in rehabilitation care among Medicare beneficiaries.
I recently received funding from NIMHD to examine the race and Medicare-Medicaid Dual Enrollment disparities in access to quality and intensity of post-acute rehabilitation care and health outcomes in patients with stroke (R01MD017719-01).
I have been recognized for my innovative and impactful research, receiving multiple awards from foundations and the National Institutes of Health. Over the last five years, I have made substantial progress in developing methodology and building a large data research in the field of rehabilitation and health equity that can be used by investigators and trainees across the country.
Research Keywords
- Social Determinants of Rehabilitation
- Risk Prediction/ Comorbidity Index
- Medicare Advantage Model
- Hospital-Based Variation in Care Among Older Adults
- Health Care in Dually Eligible Individuals Enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.
- Disparity in Post-Acute Rehabilitation Services
- Post-acute Rehabilitation Outcomes in Older Adults
Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts
- Association of Timing of Inpatient Rehabilitation in Ischemic Stroke and Health Outcomes. PI: Amit Kumar. National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, 02/01/2019 - 08/31/2021. Total project budget to date: $160,434.00
- Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Services in Older Adults After Hip Fracture and Impact on Health Outcomes. PI: Amit Kumar. National Institute of Aging, 09/01/2018 - 05/31/2021. Total project budget to date: $176,913.00
- Functional Biomarkers for Prediction of Hospitalization, Long-Term Care Placement, and Mortality in Older Adults with Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity. PI: Shweta Gore. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING, 09/30/2022 - present. Total project budget to date: $501,342.00
- Race and Medicare-Medicaid Dual Enrollment Disparities in Access to Quality and Intensity of Post-Acute Rehabilitation Care and Health Outcomes in Patients with Stroke. PI: Amit Kumar. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES, 09/11/2022 - present. Total project budget to date: $780,562.00