Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH

Bio

Dr. Patzer is an epidemiologist and health services researcher whose investigations focus on healthcare access, quality of healthcare delivery, and healthcare outcomes. She has specific research interests in disparities in social determinants of health, community-based participatory research, predictive analytics, healthcare quality, medication adherence and self-management, mobile health technology, patient education, and healthcare resource utilization. She is also the Regenstrief Institute president and CEO.

Her recent research has focused on developing a novel surveillance data registry for kidney disease, including collecting data on transplant referral and evaluation start among more than 30 transplant centers nationwide. She leads a research team that uses this data to develop quality metrics, epidemiologic investigations of the causes of variability in kidney transplantation among pediatric and adult end-stage renal disease patients, and the development and evaluation of pragmatic interventions to improve access to transplantation and reduce disparities. She currently serves as the United Network for Organ Sharing Data Advisory Committee Chair, Data Chair of the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition, and a member of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients review committee.

Dr. Patzer led the team that developed the iChoose Kidney app, Emory University's first researcher-led mobile iPhone and iPad app, which provides an individualized comparison of mortality risk estimates for patients on dialysis vs. living or deceased donor kidney transplantation. This clinical decision aid was recently evaluated in a multi-center randomized trial and found to improve patient knowledge of the survival benefit of transplantation. In addition to being available as a free download from the iTunes store, a version is available online at www.ichoosekidney.emory.edu.

The results of Dr. Patzer's work are often published in high-profile journals such as JAMA, Health Affairs, the American Journal of Transplantation, and the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.