Joint Commission seeks a Healthcare Research Scientist to advance its enterprise-wide research and improvement agenda by applying causal inference and healthcare data analytics to observational data, generating actionable insights for health system improvement, accreditation strategy, and public accountability.
Requirements
- 2 years post-doctoral experience applying causal inference methods to real-world healthcare data, especially EHRs and administrative claims.
- Peer-reviewed publication record in areas such as healthcare economics, outcomes, delivery, policy, quality, or safety.
- Demonstrated success communicating analytic findings.
- Ability to independently code, execute, and troubleshoot statistical analyses in R, Stata, or Python.
- Familiarity with predictive modeling or statistical learning methods is welcome, especially when integrated with causal inference approaches.
- Familiarity with regulatory, payer, or policy contexts (e.g., CMS Conditions of Participation, state Medicaid programs, or alternative payment models).
Responsibilities
- Design and lead applied research studies that estimate associations and causal effects from non-randomized healthcare data, contribute to Joint Commissions priorities in quality measurement, accreditation and certification evaluation, and system-level learning.
- Develop and implement advanced analytic methods, including but not limited to instrumental variables, difference-in-differences, marginal structural models, propensity score-based techniques, synthetic controls, and machine learning.
- Work with JC’s diverse data resources, including accreditation findings, electronic health record (EHR) data, ORYX/eCQM submissions, and patient-level data (PLD) from participating health systems, as well as external sources such as Medicare and Medicaid claims.
- Translate research findings into accessible, policy-relevant insights for diverse audiences including regulators, hospital leaders, clinicians, and the public.
- Ensure that public-facing research outputs and communication reflect the strategic and reputational interests of the Joint Commission.
- Publish findings in peer-reviewed journals and contribute to internal strategic products, performance improvement resources, and external stakeholder briefings.
- Develop non-technical memos, briefs, and other materials to inform internal leadership decisions and support external stakeholder engagement.
Other
- PhD or equivalent in economics, health services research, epidemiology, biostatistics, or a related quantitative field.
- Commitment to Joint Commission’s mission to continuously improve healthcare for the public, in collaboration with key stakeholders.
- Demonstrated track record of designing and overseeing analytic projects from concept through execution, including managing scope, timelines, and outputs in research or applied settings.
- Experience conducting research within an organization where outputs must align with institutional mission and communications strategy (e.g., ASPE, CMS, AHRQ, VA, state agencies, consulting companies, etc.).
- Experience working in cross-functional teams, including collaborating across roles and managing project-based responsibilities without direct supervisory authority.
