Scholars would assist with Aim 1 of a new R01 working with our lab and the Health Evaluation and Analytics Laboratory at NYU Wagner.

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common and resource intensive birth defects managed in the United States (US), affecting ~40,000 births per year in the US. (1) One-year mortality for these children is >10%. It is >30% for children requiring neonatal surgery. (2) Yet there are currently limited data on long-term outcomes and health expenditures for these children. Due to marked heterogeneity in disease subtypes and treatments among CHD patients, the power of single-center studies is limited. Multi-center data are siloed in diagnostic or procedural registries or in-patient databases, or are the product of individual investigations. Administrative data may lack clinical precision, as ICD codes for this population are not based on physiology. Further, data on costs and value typically rely on cost-to-charge ratio based costs, which are highly influenced by hospital accounting.

Scholars will assist in linking clinical registry data from all congenital heart surgical centers in New York State, longitudinal Medicaid claims, Census Bureau data, geocoded data, and the National Death Index to establish a novel population-based mechanism for longitudinal tracking of risk-adjusted outcomes, resource utilization, and health expenditures that encompasses both granular clinical details and social determinants of health.

Aim 1: Define 10-year risk-stratified, multi-dimensional outcomes (mortality and morbidities) and associated health expenditures for children undergoing congenital heart surgery across NY State.

  • 1.1 Compare probabilistic and deterministic methods of data linkage between state-wide records from a pediatric cardiac surgical clinical registry and NY State Medicaid in-patient claims files.
  • 1.2 Define 10-year risk-stratified multi-dimensional outcomes and expenditures.

One selected candidate will receive a stipend via the DSI Scholars program. Amount is subject to available funding.

Faculty Advisor

  • Professor: Brett Anderson, MD MBA MS
  • Department/School: Division of Pediatric Cardiology/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Location: 168th and Broadway

Project Timeline

  • Earliest starting date: 6/1/2020
  • End date: 8/31/2020
  • Number of hours per week of research expected during Summer 2020: ~20-40 hours per week, dependent on student availability

Candidate requirements

  • Skill sets: Probabilistic and deterministic data linkage. Proficient in either STATA or SAS. Critical reasoning and good interpersonal skills. Team members at NYU Wagner will teach the scholar about the utilization of NY State Medicaid data.
  • Student eligibility: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, master’s
  • International students on F1 or J1 visa: eligible
  • Additional comments: We are most interested in someone who would like to work as a part of this mission-driven team.