Keck School of Medicine of USC

Gehr Family Center For Health Systems Science And Innovation

Connect and Collaborate

Our Vision

Our vision is for all patients to have equitable access to high-quality, evidence-based health care.

Annual Reports

Mission of the Center

Our mission—building the evidence base for what works so that all patients have equitable access to high quality health care and better outcomes—requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates the social and medical needs of the patient. We bring together community members, researchers, clinicians, health system leaders, and educators to:

 

 

 

Conduct real world research

to identify barriers to high-quality equity care and propose solutions to gaps in health care and health outcomes from multiple perspectives.

Build and interpret data

in creative ways to analyze policies and programs and gain insights into innovative ways to solve problems, and to share these innovations with stakeholders.

Educate and mentor

clinicians, students, community members, health care leaders, and each other about innovative ways to explore and address disparities in health care delivery to elevate these issues within the field of health services research.

Promote and advocate

for evidence-based change generated by our research that is applicable and sustainable in the real world, shifts policies and systems towards equity, and holds our health care delivery systems accountable for realizing their potential to improve the health of the many, not just the few.

By The Numbers

(2022)

48

peer reviewed publications

7

peer reviewed publications with students

44

mentees

Message from the Director

The Gehr Center is driven by a commitment to health equity and health system improvement through rigorous research. I am constantly inspired by the dedication and passion of our team as we work to improve healthcare access and outcomes for all.

Cameron Kaplan, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine; Director, USC Gehr Family Center for Health Systems and Innovation
cameron-kaplan

Highlights

Visit our Highlights page for a complete archive of past highlights.

Dr. Cameron Kaplan and a team from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), led by Satya Surbhi, PhD, have received a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) for a study addressing system-level barriers to improve medication adherence among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations in Tennessee.

Gehr student innovator, Kimberly Su, and her mentor, Dr. Michael Cousineau have co-authored a piece looking at behavioral health care delivered through Street Medicine programs in California. The report shows that Street Medicine could serve as a strategy to expand access to behavioral health care for the unhoused.

Dr. Cameron Kaplan provided comments on e-cigarettes as medical devices, the effect of legalized marijuana on tobacco use, and the government’s role in encouraging citizens to quit smoking in this article on WalletHub.

Gehr student innovator, Kristen Park, and her mentor, Dr. Cameron Kaplan have co-authored a piece comparing the financial hardship between high-deductible health plans and non-high-deductible health plans with and without health savings accounts, stratified by enrollees’ number of chronic conditions. The paper, Alleviating Financial Hardships Associated with High-Deductible Health Plans for Adults with Chronic Conditions Through Health Savings Accounts, has been published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Gehr team members, Gehr Affiliates, and Partners in Care (a community- based organization that provides social and other resources to medically fragile Californians) developed and delivered a training program to address vaccine hesitancy using the help of Partners in Care case managers. The findings from the program, known as “Partners in Vaccination,” are being shared through California Health Care Foundation.

Contact Us

Division Director

Cameron Kaplan, PhD

(323) 442-0601