Dr. Jennings received her Ph.D. in Health Services Administration with a concentration in Strategic Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also holds a B.B.A. in Economics from the University of Georgia and her M.P.A. from the University of West Georgia.
Her research interests include the integration of public health and health care through collaborative relationships, population health management in hospital settings, health delivery improvement in children's healthcare settings, and several topics related to the broad theme of public health services and systems research (PHSR). Dr. Jennings’ most recent research focuses on the predictors and performance outcomes of hospital community orientation, which she is also linking to research surrounding the elimination of disparities in health outcomes.
Dr. Jennings is the Co-Site Director for the University of Louisville's Center for Health Organization Transformation funded by the National Science Foundation. She is an active member of the Academy of Management Healthcare Management Division, as well as the AcademyHealth Membership Committee and PHSR Interest Group. She also serves as the Assistant Editor for the journal, Anesthesia & Anagelsia.
Read below as Dr. Jennings shares her experience as an AcademyHealth member...
I became a member of AcademyHealth because the organization was widely respected among my professors and peers in my doctoral program. Membership turned out to be a pivotal milestone in my career as it provided invaluable opportunities exclusive to my status as a student member. I suddenly had access to scholarships to attend the premier forum for health services research, feedback from leading scholars on my presented research, and trainings that taught me how to advocate for research funding among local policy makers.
My increased participation over the years through various leadership opportunities has only expanded the value of my membership with AcademyHealth, as I now have a community of scholars to network and collaborate with as we move our research agendas forward.
Now as a professor, I continue to attend AcademyHealth conferences to learn new advancements in the field of health services research. I take this information to my students, who I strongly encourage to become members as well. Further, as junior faculty working towards tenure, I am still able to gain knowledge related to my research interests, meet with previous and new collaborators, and discover new funding opportunities, all of which keep me invested in my membership with AcademyHealth.
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