Health and Healthcare Outcomes Research Program
Health and Healthcare Outcomes Research Program
Evaluating and improving healthcare quality, access, and economic outcomes for people with chronic health conditions.
Our focus
The Health and Healthcare Outcomes Research Program carries out research related to evaluation and innovation in health care to improve health outcomes (i.e., access, quality of life, satisfaction, health related social needs, costs) for people with specific chronic conditions. Health policy implications of these outcomes are a key focus.
Current projects examine the uptake and outcomes of care coordination services and impacts of the pandemic on health care use and health related social needs.
What we do
Our research centers on evaluating and improving healthcare quality, access, and economic outcomes for people with chronic health conditions. With Dr. Hynes’ joint appointment at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans are a special population focus of our research conducted at the VA. Our OSU-based research focuses on people with specific chronic diseases.
Our research employs health services research methods design (observational and interventional) and integrating large-scale health records, insurance claims (VA, Medicare) and survey data, including use of REDCap for data collection and management. Our OSU-based projects rely on research computing resources supported by the OSU Center for Quantitative Life Sciences, Health Data & Informatics program.
Current Major Projects
Studies based at Oregon State University
Care Coordination uptake among people with mental health conditions
Exploring how care coordination is used and billed in Oregon by examining Oregon All Payer All Claims (APAC) data.
Selected abstracts & presentations
- Hynes DM, Namwase, A, Govier, DJ, Mace, E, Thomas, K. Chronic Care Management Services For People With Mental health Conditions In Oregon, 2017-2019, Oregon Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Corvallis, OR. October 8, 2024.
- Hynes, DM, Namwase, AS, Govier, DJ, Mace, E, Thomas, KC. Variation in Chronic Care Management Services for People with Mental Health Conditions in Oregon, 2017-2019. Seventeenth Workshop on Costs and Assessment in Psychiatry - Mental Health Outcomes, Services, Economics, Policy Research, Venice, IT March 29, 2025
Improving the health of parents and their adolescent and transition-age youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) (PCORI-22459)
Our efforts focus on evaluating fidelity of the care coordination intervention. Collaboration with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led by Kathleen Thomas.
Details at
Improving the Health of Parents and Their Adolescent and Transition-Age Youth With IDD
Selected abstracts & presentations
- Hynes, DM, Graff, G, Thomas, K, Perez-Jolles, M, Implementation of Coordinated Care: Insights from Multiple Studies on Process and Outcome Measures. Panel presentation. 16th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, Arlington, VA. December 13, 2023.
- Thomas KC, Annis IE, deJong NA, Christian R, Davis SA, Hughes PM, Sleath BL, Hynes DM, Graaf G, Ruble L, Adams L. Promis Self-report Quality Of Life Scores Distinguish Subgroups Of Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities. Seventeenth Workshop on Costs and Assessment in Psychiatry - Mental Health Outcomes, Services, Economics, Policy Research, Venice, IT March 29, 2025
Studies based at the VA Portland Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC)
Care Coordination and Outcomes for High-Risk Patients: Building the Evidence for Implementation. (VA HSR&D IIR 20-165)
Conducting retrospective analysis of patients with high level of comorbidity to examine impacts of care coordination services on mortality, health care use, and costs; prospectively evaluating patient perceptions of care integration and provider perceptions about what is working well.
Selected abstracts and presentations
- User-centered multiple methods approach to inform innovative redesign of care coordination. Panel presentation. 16th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, Arlington, VA. December 13, 2023. and Implementation Science 2024, 19(2):S45.
COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC). (VA HSR&D SDR C19-21-278/9)
Focuses on identifying and examining long term outcomes of COVID-19 illness using an emulated trial design with observational and survey data.
Details at
VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory (CORC)
Selected abstracts and presentations
- DP Bui, M Niederhausen, AW Hickok, DJ Govier, M Rowneki, JC Naylor, E Hawkins, EJ Boyko, TJ Iwashyna, EM Viglianti, GN Ioannou, JI Chen, Denise M. Hynes (USA): Post-COVID-19 Suicide Attempts and Self-Directed Violence: Using Latent Class Analysis to Identify Those at Greatest Risk. Seventeenth Workshop on Costs and Assessment in Psychiatry - Mental Health Outcomes, Services, Economics, Policy Research, Venice, IT March 29, 2025
PhD Students
Zackery Allen
Health Policy PhD student focused on health policy and artificial intelligence
Strato Angsoteng Bayitaa
Artificial intelligence PhD student and Fulbright awardee focused on applying graph neural networks in large health data.
Elizabeth Mace
Health Policy PhD student focused on mental health system capacity and access to appropriate care for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder conditions.
Felicity Ratway
Health Policy PhD student focused on language access and healthcare quality
Past students and trainees
Abigail Mulcahy PhD
Completed VA postdoctoral fellowship in 2024
Disability and associated healthcare use
Major Tiara Walz, PhD, MHA, MBA, MS.Ed, FACHE
Completed PhD June 2023
Currently Assistant Professor, Army-Baylor University, Graduate Healthcare & Business Administration Program, US Army
Diana Govier, PhD
Completed VA Postdoctoral Fellowship August 2021
Currently Health Economist, VA Portland Healthcare System, Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care, Portland, OR
Contact info
Denise M Hynes, BSN, MPH, PhD, RN, Professor, College of Health and Senior Research Career Scientist, US Department of Veterans Affairs
University email: [email protected]
VA email: [email protected]
Recent publications
(This is not an exhaustive list. We are still rebuilding our database of faculty publications. Visit Dr. Hynes' profile for a more extensive list of publications in her CV.)