Nehali Patel, MD

The best patient outcomes are achieved when we support both patients and the care teams that serve them. My work focuses on identifying opportunities to enhance the patient care experience and streamline clinical operations; we can then develop and implement strategies to drive meaningful improvements. 

I primarily work within the Hughes Infectious Diseases Clinic, a St. Jude outpatient clinic that provides specialized care for patients with complex infectious conditions such as HIV/AIDS. By streamlining our clinical operations, our care team sees newly diagnosed patients more rapidly, and patients have access to antiretrovirals sooner. Together, this gives each patient the best opportunity to improve their overall health and increase their quality of life. In addition to improving clinical operations, I also serve St. Jude as a provider informaticist within the Department of Information Services, helping optimize clinical use of the electronic health record within the institution. 

I am interested in quality improvement and implementation science and how those can be applied to better understand and improve clinical care for HIV. Along these lines, I have been involved in implementing DoxyPeP (Doxycycline Post-exposure Prophylaxis) to prevent certain sexually transmitted infections in our adolescent and young adult population, and we are currently invested in projects that improve the transition to adult care. 

We were the first clinic to utilize specialty pharmacy resources to improve medication adherence for our patient population and pilot the MEDS for Me initiative, which standardizes documentation of barriers to taking oral medications. The clinic was also the first to implement a trauma-informed care model, showcasing our dedication to patient safety, trust and transparency. 

My research projects are deeply rooted in optimizing health care for those living with or exposed to HIV. By pursuing this line of research and translating our findings into the clinic, we are increasing our impact on patient care. As we move to the new clinical center, we are also expanding our services to include the infectious disease consult population.