Kelly Devers, Ph.D., conducts research on a wide range of health care organization, delivery, and policy issues. Her recent research has focused on hospitals and medical groups' response to changing market and policy forces and their impact on cost and quality and patient safety. She also is an expert in qualitative and mixed research methods. Dr. Devers has published widely in major health services research and policy journals, edited a book on managed care, served as guest editor of a special issue of Health Services Research focused on the use of qualitative methods, and is co-authoring a textbook on qualitative and mixed methods research in health services and policy research. Currently, she is a co-investigator on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded project examining physician office-based supports to improve smoking cessation counseling and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RJWF) funded project to improve the delivery of preventive health care services in primary care practices. She also serves as task leader on an AHRQ funded H-CAHPS project on physician-patient communication about hospital quality data and its implications for hospital referral and choice and as a qualitative consultant on a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study of barriers to colon cancer screening. Dr. Devers also recently served is a co-investigator on a congressionally mandated study conducted through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on physician-owned specialty hospitals. She has also served as a temporary member of the Health Services Organization and Delivery (HSOD) study section, National Institute of Health (NIH) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), special emphasis panels. Dr. Devers teaches courses in health care organization theory, qualitative and mixed research methods, and quality and patient safety. She holds a joint appointment in the VCU School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine.

Return to AcademyHealth Methods Council