Himali M. Weerahandi, MD

I am an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Population Health. I conduct research targeting systems drivers of adverse outcomes such as hospital readmission and mortality, with the goal of improving health care quality. As a practicing, board-certified internist, I have a strong clinical background in caring for medically and psychosocially complex patients. 

My areas of expertise include transitions across the continuum of care, care coordination, readmissions, and discharge practices. I am experienced with analyzing data from large, multisource data sets, including data from electronic health records, hospital claims, the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System, and the National Death Index. I have applied advanced statistical techniques such as propensity score matching, generalized estimating equation modeling, and generalized linear mixed models in my research.

I am the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute K23 Career Development Award examining discharge process quality from skilled nursing facility to home after a heart failure hospitalization. I am also examining how frailty and cognitive impairment drive outcomes in these patients in order to design best practices for this vulnerable group.