About

Timothy Beebe, PhD, is the James A. Hamilton Professor of Healthcare Management in the Division of Health Policy & Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He serves as Program Director of the Minnesota Learning Health System Mentored Career Development Program and Deputy Director of the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. His primary expertise lies in survey methodology, with a 35-year track record of testing new data collection methods across general population, physician, and hard-to-reach samples. His research interests also include patient-reported outcomes measurement, health measures development and testing, healthcare policy, healthcare access for vulnerable populations, and healthcare delivery and learning health systems research. Dr. Beebe has held leadership roles at Mayo Clinic, including chair of the Division of Health Care Policy & Research and Director of the Survey Research Center, as well as deputy director of research for the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. He is recognized for his contributions to health services research methods, survey methods, and health measurement, and has received awards such as membership in the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health and the Outstanding Alumni Award from Bemidji State University.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Immunology
• Surgery
• Family medicine
• Environmental health
• Virology

Selected publications

• Aligning cardiac monitoring with American Heart Association Guidelines: Impact on utilization, hemodynamic monitoring, and outcomes

  PLoS ONE · 2026-01-30

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Overuse of continuous cardiac monitoring can lead to poor patient experience, increased costs, and decreased efficiency. Because significant variation in continuous cardiac monitoring ordering exists, implementation strategies that promote care in alignment with practice standards and an examination of use cases that fall outside of standards are needed. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate if implementation of American Heart Association (AHA) practice standards on continuous cardiac monitoring could reduce utilization without jeopardizing patient safety. METHODS: We conducted a prospective pre-post study including a 2 year prospectively collected baseline against a 10-month post intervention period within a 10-hospital health system. An electronic health record (EHR) order set was implemented to align care with AHA continuous cardiac monitoring practice standards. We compared continuous cardiac monitoring utilization, adherence to standards, as well as clinical outcomes including mortality and length of stay. Finally, we investigated the rate and impact of hemodynamically significant events (hypotension, bradycardia, and tachycardia) before and after the intervention. RESULTS: We compared 117,814 hospitalizations pre-implementation against 49,006 post implementation finding significant reductions in total telemetry use, and no significant change in outcomes. Overall, patients with telemetry use outside of standards had higher mortality, longer length of stay, and higher readmission rates. The intervention was associated with a higher rate of hypotensive events which occurred off cardiac monitoring. This was not associated with worse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: An EHR tool to align care with continuous cardiac monitoring practice standards safely reduced overall continuous cardiac monitoring utilization. Use outside of practice standards persisted and was primarily focused on monitoring for potential hemodynamic instability. We found no evidence that continuous cardiac monitoring was associated with improved outcomes in unstable patients. Continuous cardiac monitoring for potentially unstable patients can likely be replaced for non-cardiac indications with continuous heart rate monitoring.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Patient Perspectives on a Digital Opioid Management Tool After Surgery: A Qualitative Study (Preprint)

  2026-02-24

  articleOpen access

  <sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> EHR-integrated digital tools offer a scalable, low-burden way to deliver opioid education, tapering support, and promote safe disposal. Despite this, the usability and patient-perceived value of such tools in surgical populations are not well characterized. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> We developed OPY (Opioid Program for You), a patient portal-embedded, patient-facing application grounded in behavioral economics to operationalize effective postoperative opioid stewardship. This study evaluates OPY from the patient perspective to assess their unique experiences, tool usability, and utility. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> This qualitative study included both online surveys (n=64) and virtual, semi-structured interviews (n=19). Participants were recruited from a large academic health system from July–August 2025. This study was prospectively registered (NCT06124079) and adheres to Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) guidelines. Survey results were descriptively analyzed and qualitative data was coded using grounded thematic analysis. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> The majority, 70% (30 of 43), of participants reported being satisfied with the OPY tool, and said they were likely, 75% (24 of 32), to recommend OPY to friends or family. Qualitative themes identified were: overall OPY usage patterns, perceptions of OPY features (positive and negative), patients' reactions to the introduction of the OPY application, and suggestions for tool improvement. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> Most participants valued the OPY tool for its educational content, safety guidance, and usability, yet emphasized the need for personalized content and functionality, along with a stronger introduction to OPY from providers at the point of care to enhance engagement and implementation of an embedded digital health tool. </sec> <sec> <title>CLINICALTRIAL</title> (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06124079) </sec> <sec> <title>INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT</title> RR2-10.2196/52882 </sec>

  PublisherDOI

• Lessons Learned from Sepsis Microlearning Intervention

  Applied Clinical Informatics · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Improving early recognition and treatment of sepsis is key to decreasing patient mortality. A large academic health system implemented several quality improvement initiatives, yet monthly compliance with sepsis best practices remained low. Develop and evaluate an electronic health record (EHR)-embedded microlearning intervention to address suboptimal adherence to sepsis care best practices. We conducted a randomized stepped-wedge trial of our microlearning intervention with randomization done at the nursing block level. Antibiotic delay and secondary outcomes extracted from the EHR were analyzed using mixed models to account for intracluster correlation. The microlearning intervention did not reduce antibiotic delay (mean difference = 0.71 hours; p = 0.49). Despite the alert firing over 30,000 times during the study period, the microlearning intervention was viewed only a total of 30 times. Our microlearning intervention did not improve sepsis care outcomes. We believe that although the content addressed key knowledge gaps, delivering the intervention through disruptive EHR alerts was not an accessible delivery channel to the nursing staff we targeted.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Oncologist perspectives on the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) chemotherapy toxicity prediction tool for older adults

  Journal of Geriatric Oncology · 2025-06-27

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Abstract WP107: Standardized Inpatient Telestroke to Improve Access to Stroke Specialists

  Stroke · 2025-01-30

  article

  Introduction: Of the 800,000 strokes per year in the United States, approximately 25% are recurrent. A stroke specialist evaluation with targeted secondary prevention reduces the risk of recurrent stroke, but access to specialist stroke care remains limited, especially in rural areas. We evaluated the feasibility of standard-of-care inpatient telestroke consultation to reduce the rate of transfers and increase the rate of stroke specialist evaluation for hospitalized acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients within our telestroke network. Methods: We assessed AIS care at five “spoke” hospitals between 1/1/21–12/31/23. Prior to the intervention, all hospitals had telestroke coverage in the emergency department, a protocolized stroke admission order set, and stroke specialists at the “hub” available to provide guidance 24/7 via telephone consultation and chart review. Standard-of-care inpatient telestroke consultation by stroke specialists at the hub site was then implemented sequentially at each spoke hospital in a phased rollout. The telestroke specialist recommended the necessary diagnostic stroke evaluation and secondary stroke prevention. A stepped-wedge cluster design and multivariable logistic regression model was used to compare the likelihood of transfer and stroke specialist consultation pre-and post intervention. Results: A total of 1,295 patients with AIS were included (537 pre-inpatient telestroke implementation and 758 post-inpatient telestroke implementation, median age 75.24 [IQR: 64.45-86.11], 47.7% female, 92.2% white, and median NIHSS 2 [IQR:0-5] [Table 1]). The transfer rate pre-and post-inpatient telestroke implementation was 58.5% and 37.5%, (adjusted p-value &lt; 0.01). Of the specific transfer indications, the need for stroke specialist evaluation (7.4% vs 0.9%) and need for a higher level stroke center (27.6% vs 18.3%) showed the most absolute reduction (Table 2). The rate of stroke specialist consultation increased from 80.2% to 96.4% post-inpatient telestroke (adjusted p-value &lt; 0.01); similarly, stroke consultation became increasingly comprehensive (full telestroke consultation 1.4% versus 94.1%) (Table 3). Conclusions: Standard-of-care inpatient telestroke consultation significantly increased access to stroke specialist consultation and decreased the AIS transfer rate in spoke hospitals. This stroke care delivery model was feasible and may help address persistent stroke healthcare disparities in underserved areas.

  PublisherDOI

• Optimizing sepsis care within a learning health system: qualitatively examining the perspectives of those involved in sepsis care

  Journal of Critical Care · 2025-12-06

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Lessons From CMS Relief Funding After Cyberattack On Change Healthcare

  Health Affairs · 2025-12-01

  article

  After the 2024 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, CMS distributed $3.3 billion to providers experiencing revenue disruptions, including $2.2 billion to hospitals. We found that the opt-in, one-size-fits-all nature of this relief funding simultaneously resulted in overpayments to many participating hospitals and underparticipation by many hospitals that had likely been disrupted by the cyberattack.

  PublisherDOI

• Examining the social prescription process: Barriers, facilitators, and the role of health information technology

  Social Science & Medicine · 2025-10-15

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessment of cost-related medication nonadherence during routine hospital-based care: Association with racial disparities and hospital utilization

  American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy · 2025-07-18

  article

  PURPOSE: Cost-related medication nonadherence (CRNA) is a prevalent public health problem tied to social determinants of health. The purpose of this study was to describe a method to collect CRNA and the association this has with hospital utilization, as well as potential racial disparities in the prevalence of CRNA. METHODS: We conducted a pilot prospective observational study by embedding 2 validated survey questions aimed at capturing CRNA into the admission process in an academic 10-hospital system. We evaluated process adherence and the association between CRNA and patient demographics, outcomes, and overall hospital utilization. RESULTS: During the study period, 7,831 patients were admitted, of whom 2,878 were screened for CRNA. Of those screened, 144 (5.0%) reported experiencing CRNA in the last year and 99 (3.4%) reported experiencing CRNA in the last 3 months. Patients with CRNA were younger, more likely to be male and nonwhite, and had higher rates of chronic comorbidities. Patients who reported experiencing CRNA in the last 3 months had a longer initial length of stay, but only 5% had an ambulatory pharmacy follow-up visit. Overall process adherence was higher for white patients, largely due to hospital-level effects. CONCLUSION: Embedding assessment for CRNA into routine care captures a medically complex and socially vulnerable population. Assessment of CRNA represents a critical first step in addressing an important social determinant of health and represents an opportunity to standardize care to reduce cost, as well as improve equity and patient outcomes.

  PublisherDOI

• Standardized Inpatient Telestroke to Improve Access to Stroke Specialists (P12-14.015)

  Neurology · 2025-04-07

  article

  To study the impact of standard-of-care inpatient telestroke evaluation on transfer rates and stroke specialist access.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Nathan D. Shippee

  Minnesota Department of Health

  27 shared

• Donna McAlpine

  University of Minnesota

  19 shared

• Michael G. Usher

  University of Minnesota System

  16 shared

• Patricia A. Harrison

  Houston Methodist

  16 shared

• Michael Davern

  14 shared

• Kathleen Thiede Call

  University of Minnesota

  14 shared

• Víctor M. Montori

  13 shared

• Genevieve B. Melton

  University of Minnesota

  13 shared

Labs

• Beebe LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Public Health

  University of Minnesota

  1995

• M.S., Public Health

  University of Minnesota

  1991

• B.A., Public Health

  University of California, Berkeley

  1988

Awards & honors

• Member, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, 2018…
• Outstanding Alumni Award, Bemidji State University, 2022
• 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders, Minnesota Physicia…