PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — With a two-year, $1.1 million grant from the Peterson Center on Healthcare, Brown University School of Public Health researchers will embark on a study that could help increase high-quality, cost-effective care for high-need Medicare patients requiring post-discharge care, such as rehabilitation or palliative services.

In the first of two phases, the researchers will analyze Medicare claims data to identify exemplary and average-performing hospital systems. In phase two, researchers will visit hospitals to identify features of health care delivery that make high-performing facilities successful.

“We've already created new ways to identify high-need Medicare patients using national data, and we're looking forward to identifying systems that care for these patients in an exemplary way,” said Vincent Mor, professor of health services, policy and practice, who will help lead the project.

Ultimately the researchers’ goal is to disseminate the best practices identified in the study to improve care overall. Brown’s Center for Long-Term Care Quality & Innovation, where the project will be based, aims to test and spread interventions that improve care for older adults in a variety of care settings.