My primary contributions to science are related to advancement and evaluation of health system interventions based on the science of human caring. The focus of my dissertation work in human service program evaluation was to define, measure and demonstrate the effects of caring interventions on person-centered health outcomes, cost and satisfaction. I have continued this work in various health care settings, including the Mayo Clinic. As Co-PI, I led the evaluation of a large scale systems intervention measuring quality, cost, satisfaction and caring as different models of care were implemented across multiple hospital units. Findings indicate that increased perceptions of patient caring are related to decreased cost from length of stay, reduced complications related to surgery, and increased patient satisfaction.
