David C. Lee, MD

My research uses big data, in the form of large administrative claims databases, and geospatial analysis (using geographic information systems) to analyze patterns of health care use in millions of emergency department users.

I have previously studied hospital closures to predict how they affect hospital-based care. I have also analyzed how natural disasters affect health care delivery and use of emergency care services.

My current research pursuits include studying diabetes in urban minority communities. In a National Institutes of Health–funded study, I will be comparing “hot spots” and “cold spots” of glycemic control to identify neighborhood-level factors that explain why certain communities have better or worse diabetic health than others.

Through a grant from the New York State Health Foundation, I also study how to improve rural health surveillance by using emergency claims data and novel geographic methods. By using geospatial analysis and data on the one in five Americans who visits an emergency department each year, I am working to develop new approaches of measuring health at a local geographic level to understand how to better serve the communities around us.

I look forward to the day when the combination of big data and geographic analysis transforms our health care system into one that does more than just provide health care but actually delivers health.