The Yeo Lab studies how we can improve health services by 1) using novel technology in patient care, 2) improving diversity in the surgical workforce, and 3) characterizing disparities in health care and outcomes.
Health services research is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on improving the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare services. Within health services research, our group at the Yeo Lab has three focus areas:
Health Tech and App Development
As new technological capabilities emerge, our team seeks to understand how these advancements can be used to improve health services for both providers and patients. Our projects in this area have ranged from the creation of a mobile health app that aids in patient post-operative monitoring to developing an electronic health record-based notification system for physicians.
Increased Diversity in the Surgical Workforce
While the U.S. population has grown increasingly diverse, percentages of women and minority medical school graduates and surgical faculty have not kept pace. Our research aims to reduce these workforce disparities by identifying best practices in the retention and promotion of women and minority faculty and trainees in surgery. We have studied disparities in surgical training for 16 years and are the only group to have successfully tracked an entire cohort of U.S. surgical trainees for over a decade.
Disparities in health care and outcomes
Our group focuses on improving outcomes and reducing barriers for patients suffering from long-term illness. We aim to elucidate population disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and delivery. In addition to identifying differences in these areas, we also focus on the characterization of social, economic, and historical factors that contribute to the persistence of these issues. Our team believes that by considering both clinical and social contexts, interventions will be more successful in addressing population-specific disparities.
Major Focus Areas
Disparities in Care Fragmentation
Improving Surgical Workforce Diversity
Using Mobile Apps to Monitor Patients after Surgery
Biography
Dr. Yeo is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine where she specializes in colon and rectal surgery. She received her M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2004 and completed her residency at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2011. Since then, she has gone on to receive her M.H.S. from Yale University School of Medicine, M.S. in Healthcare Leadership at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and her M.B.A. from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. Dr. Yeo teaches an elective course, Digital Innovations in Healthcare, for the EMBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
