Laura Feemster, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Washington and Core Investigator at the VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care. Dr. Feemster received her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Washington. She completed her clinical training, including residency and fellowship, at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle, WA.
Dr. Feemster's early research work sought to understand the impact of health behaviors (substance use, tobacco cessation and adherence) on patient-centered outcomes in chronic lung disease. She has experience with intervention studies to improve the quality of patient-clinician communication among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other serious illness. More recently, her research has focused on assessing quality of care and improving care delivery for patients with COPD. She is the recipient of an National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute K23 career development award designed to evaluate receipt of guideline-recommended COPD care and intervene in the primary care setting to increase the delivery of high-quality COPD care, using a behaviorally based intervention. She is co-leading a VA QUERI project seeking to de-implement inappropriate inhaled corticosteroid use among patients with COPD. She has additional expertise in the use of performance metrics to assess implementation of evidence-based care, with appointments to National Committee for Quality Assurance Respiratory Measure Advisory Panel, as well as the American Thoracic Society Quality Improvement and Document Development & Implementation Committees.
