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Kathleen N. Gillespie, PhD is Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy. A health economist, her major interests are economic evaluation, competency-based education, and health services utilization. She is a co-author of the book Evidence-Based Public Health, and teaches courses that help students acquire and assess evidence: principles of biostatistics, economic evaluation, and applied regression methods. Her research has a similar quantitative focus. For example, she is working with colleagues in the department to assess our use of a set of 60 key competencies for health management education. Are student self-assessments reliable? Consistent? Do they show improvement over time? She has also worked with colleagues from Saint Louis University and Washington University to determine the cost-effectiveness of the use of gowns and gloves to prevent the spread of infectious disease in hospital intensive care units. This research is especially important in light of the increasing development of antibiotic-resistant infections. Dr. Gillespie serves on the Scientific Review Committee of the International Health Economics Association and is a member of the American Society of Health Economists.

Education
PhD- Washington University

Courses

Research

Dr. Gillespie’s research interests are economic evaluation, competency-based education, the measurement of health-related quality of life, and the utilization of health care services, especially by persons with diabetes. She is completing work on a grant funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration to examine urban and rural differences in compliance with diabetes treatment guidelines. This research will help to answer the question: are persons with diabetes who live in rural areas equally likely, compared to urban residents, to receive the treatments and screenings recommended by the American Diabetes Association? A second grant will examine the dual burden of diabetes and obesity as it relates to urban and rural location. Another recent set of projects examine the use of gowns and gloves to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in an intensive care unit. With the increasing development of antibiotic-resistant diseases, it is important to find cost-effective methods, such as the use of gowns by hospital personnel and visitors, which will reduce the spread of disease.

Selected Publications

Campbell CR, Lomperis AML, Gillespie KN, Arrington, B, “Competency-Based Health Administration Education: The Saint Louis University Experience,” Journal of Health Education Administration, 23(2):135-168, Spring 2006.