Hilary Mosher, MD, MFA

Hilary Mosher a hospitalist physician and quality improvement and health services researcher at University of Iowa Health Care and the Iowa City VA, where she directs the Iowa City VA Quality Scholars (VAQS) Fellowship program. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for hospitalized patients with chronic complex illnesses, and encompasses drug safety, care transitions and interdisciplinary teams, functional improvement during hospitalization, chronic pain and long-term opioid therapy. Current research projects include understanding the pathways of prescribing that lead to intended and unintended long-term opioid use and characterizing opioid use patterns distinguished by duration of therapy. As a clinician and researcher, her aim is to identify, evaluate and implement better care practices and approaches to improving hospital care and care transitions for Veterans with chronic pain and complex medical illness, as well as determine ways to improve outpatient and inpatient opioid prescribing practices. She is currently funded through the QUERI PII pilot to implement best practices to reduce risky opioid use in the hospital setting. Her training as a VA Quality Scholar and current leadership role in the VAQS program is reflected in her efforts to encourage best practices to reduce risky opioid and sedative use in the hospital, and improve diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) and linkage to OUD treatment among hospitalized Veterans.