SUMMARY
Terri L. Menser, Ph.D., is a health services researcher focused on practice improvement and patient health outcomes. Working in the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Dr. Menser examines health outcomes based on differential treatments, interventions and social determinants of health factors. She also assesses program or intervention implementation.
Her work employs mixed methodologies to examine health and assess inequalities, to engage patients and their support networks in care decisions, and to quantify health information technology (HIT) utilization.
Dr. Menser's research is focused particularly on identifying barriers to care. She collaborates with providers to develop interventions that engage and educate patients and their support networks to empower them and improve health outcomes.
Focus areas
- Patient engagement. The concept of patient engagement includes knowledge, resources and willingness to participate in care. Dr. Menser's interest in engagement research is rooted in amplifying patient-centered decision-making and realizing individual-level health changes.
- Health disparities. For decades, inequities based on race and ethnicity affecting access to care and health outcomes have been reported across clinical conditions. Dr. Menser focuses on identifying modifiable causes and intervening to educate and engage patients.
- Provider burnout. Demands on our clinicians continue to increase, resulting in an ongoing burnout epidemic. Dr. Menser's work has examined the causes of burnout and continues to include research on efficiency and standardization efforts to offset increasing workload demands.
- Health information technology (HIT). In this age of digital health care, HIT can offer solutions to engage and educate our patients in a systematic, comprehensive and efficient manner. Dr. Menser's research in this area has focused on utilization of the Mayo Clinic patient portal.
- Complex and chronic disease management. To realize the best care outcomes, patients with complex and chronic diseases often are required to follow ongoing and sometimes complex care regimens. Dr. Menser's research experience has focused on assisting patients with end-stage disease to understand their treatment choices. Assessing disparities in patient knowledge of treatment options and facilitating educational intervention development is essential for this population.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Menser's research focuses on elements of the quadruple aim. Her end goal is to increase access to care and to improve the value and quality of care, while paying attention to workload and burnout issues. Provider and caregiver well-being are both key components to realizing better patient health outcomes. Combining research in these focal areas, in addition to patient education and support initiatives, can yield meaningful improvements to care processes.