SUMMARY
Robert M. Jacobson, M.D., seeks to improve health outcomes of empaneled primary care patients through interventions at a population level. Dr. Jacobson's research focuses on improved vaccine uptake at the population level. He focuses on interventions that healthcare organizations, such as Mayo Clinic, can pursue rather than interventions pursued by public health organizations or insurers. These interventions often operate outside of healthcare professionals' encounters with patients but complement those efforts rather than compete with them.
Dr. Jacobson collaborates closely with researchers at Mayo Clinic through the Population Health Science Scholars Program, which is a joint effort between the Division of Epidemiology and the primary care collaboration at Mayo Clinic. The primary care collaboration involves community internal medicine, family medicine, and community pediatric and adolescent medicine.
Focus areas
- Population-based interventions that improve vaccination delivery. Dr. Jacobson pursues the development and evaluation of population-based interventions resulting in on-time and up-to-date routine vaccination rates for both children and adults.
- Pragmatic trial designs. Dr. Jacobson researches methodology for evaluating the positive and negative impact of population-based interventions.
- Population health concerns and solutions. Dr. Jacobson evaluates population health concerns and solutions using the Rochester Epidemiology Project as a rich data source of healthcare experiences.
Significance to patient care
Current primary care practices across the United States still rely upon the office visit to pursue the mission of achieving optimal health for each individual. Primary care practices still depend on the patient's initiative and ability to present for office visits. However, much of what a primary care practice seeks to do for its population of patients can, and should, take place outside of traditional office visits; these include efforts to alert, communicate, educate, screen and even intervene. Such efforts could make better use of modern electronics, patient time and community resources.
It is the goal of the research efforts of Dr. Jacobson and his colleagues to create such interventions. These interventions will improve the health of individuals and the well-being of the community while reducing disparities in healthcare and costs.
Professional highlights
- Co-Principal Investigator, "Less Pain, Less Fuss, Right Now!" and "Make It Count!" — Multilevel Interventions for Patient, Parent, and Practice to Enhance Provider Recommendations for HPV Vaccination, National Cancer Institute, 2018-present.
- Co-director, Population Health Science Scholars Program, Mayo Clinic, 2014-present.
- Associate editor, systematic and narrative reviews, Academic Pediatrics, 2012-present.
- T. Denny Sanford Professorship of Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic, 2024.
- Robert Todd Duncan Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, Butler University, 2022.
- American Academy of Pediatrics:
- Outstanding Large Chapter Award, 2014.
- President, Minnesota Chapter, 2012-2014.
- Minnesota's HPV Vaccine Champion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018.
- Pasteur Merieux-Connaught Award for Communicable Disease Epidemiology, International Society for Infectious Diseases, 1996.
- Excellence in Research Education Award, Primary Care Research Methods and Statistics Conference, 1995.