Christine D. Jones, MD, MS
Senior Investigator
Christine D. Jones, MD, MS, is an Associate Physician Investigator in the Institute for Health Research. She is a board-certified internist, and her research focuses on improving post-acute care for older adults and their care partners, with a special emphasis on improving collaboration across care settings to meet patient and caregiver needs related to home health care.
Dr. Jones completed her medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine and her Masters of Science in Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has decades of experience working in health care delivery systems and her work has been funded by AHRQ, NIH, the VA, and the Doris Duke Foundation. She has led multiple national research and quality improvement initiatives to optimize home health care delivery for older adults after hospital discharge. Dr. Jones is also an Adjoint Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Key recent grants include:
- Missed Home Health Care in Older Adults with Dementia: Identifying Drivers, Outcomes, and Costs
- Role: Principal Investigator
- Funder: National Institute on Aging
- Award End Date: 6/30/2030
- Post-Acute Home Health Care for Veterans: Examining Payer Source, Quality, and Outcomes
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Funder: VA Health Systems Research
- Award End Date: 9/30/2026 (transitioned to new co-PI 6/30/2025)
- Development and Evaluation of a Palliative-Transitional Home Health Care Model
- Role: Principal Investigator
- Funder: National Institute on Aging
- Award End Date: 09/30/2023
Through this proposal, we aim to identify key drivers and mitigators of missed home health care and related readmission, mortality, and cost outcomes for older adults with dementia, which will inform interventions and policy recommendations that aim to improve outcomes for older adults with dementia and their caregivers.
This mixed-methods study evaluates the use of post-acute home health care among Veterans discharged from a VAMC and how that varies by the payer (Medicare versus VA) for home health care. Perspectives from multiple stakeholders will help to understand factors that influence use and payment for Veteran home health care. Finally, we will determine the impact of home health agency quality and payer source on readmissions and mortality for Veterans who receive post-acute home health care.
This study sought to develop, refine, and pilot test a Palliative-Transitional Home Health Care model to provide enhanced support after discharge for patients with additional palliative and transitional care needs.