Susan E. Hernandez, M.P.A. is a fourth-year Ph.D. student and research assistant in Health Services at the University of Washington. Ms. Hernandez’s research interests include organizational approaches to improving quality in primary care settings, adoption of medical home practices in minority serving institutions, and reducing racial/ethnic disparities. Her dissertation will test whether a national patient-centered medical home intervention exhibits differential effects on racial/ethnic groups in clinical quality and healthcare utilization and cost.
Before beginning her doctoral work, Ms. Hernandez previously worked as the program associate for the Program in Health Care Disparities at The Commonwealth Fund. Here, she collaborated with the assistant vice president to develop grants, write publications, and analyze Fund-sponsored surveys.
Currently, Ms. Hernandez is working on a Commonwealth Fund–supported project studying how five organizations selected for their diversity in culture, organizational structure, delivery system integration, and market environment respond to patient-centered innovations being implemented throughout Washington State. She is also working on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation–funded project evaluating eight payment reform efforts designed to promote high-value health care outcomes through leveraging existing market knowledge, partnerships, and resources across the United States.
She earned her M.P.A. in Health Policy and Management from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University in 2008. She also earned her Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Policy from the City College of New York in 2003.