Dr. Rao is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy.   She is a physician and health services researcher with expertise in performing longitudinal cohort studies, systematic reviews, and qualitative research.  For the past several years, her research has focused on the patient’s perspective of health care.  In particular, she is interested in studying the impact of patient-provider communication on outcomes of care and interventions to improve the communication between patients and health care providers. In addition to her research and teaching activities, Dr. Rao currently serves as the Associate Editor for Rheumatology for the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Research Interests

• Complementary and alternative medicine
• Patient-provider communication
• Chronic disease management