Elizabeth B. Habermann, Ph.D.

The research of Elizabeth B. Habermann, Ph.D., focuses on the quality of care that surgical patients receive. She utilizes existing datasets to study how patients access surgical care and surgical specialists, the quality of care they receive, and associated patient outcomes including complications and survival. She has published research on the care of breast, lung, colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, and esophageal cancer patients as well as commented on the effect of insurance and the health care system on the type and quality of cancer care received.

Focus areas

• Cancer Research. Dr. Habermann's work looks at ways to improve the care of cancer patients, from the availability of cancer screening to diagnosis and treatment, including surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy, as well as later effects of the disease and survival.
• Hospital and Provider Characteristics and Quality of Care. The quality of surgical care often varies by the size and nature of a hospital and by the training and experience of the surgeon or care team. Dr. Habermann investigates these variations in the quality of care with the goal of improving care across the United States.
• Statistical Models to Improve Surgical Care. With her surgeon collaborators, including Dr. Robert Cima, Dr. Habermann uses statistical modeling and existing data to better predict surgical patients at risk for complications or mortality.

Significance to patient care

Dr. Habermann's research describes the current state of surgical patient care at the Mayo Clinic and nationally, and identifies opportunities for improvement. She works closely with surgeons to create and execute research and interventions in care. By continually monitoring the current quality of surgical care and the benefits of interventions, surgical care of patients at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere will improve.