Assistant Professor Katy Kozhimannil (Health Policy and Management) and her colleagues recently published a study in the journal Health Affairs discussing the wide disparity in Cesarean delivery rates at US hospitals. The results from this nationwide study indicate that there may be a quality-of-care problem. The rates for Cesareans are of interest to the US government, because a high percentage of these procedures are funded by Medicare. The study was also written up by the New York Times.
Professor Kozhimannil uses MSI resources to support research into a number of issues related to health policy that impacts reproductive-age women and their families. Of special interest are institutional and government policies affecting health care delivery, quality, and outcomes during the perinatal period.