Kelli DePriest

Kelli DePriest is a nurse researcher at RTI who uses mixed methods to generate evidence for strategies to advance health equity. Dr. DePriest’s work intersects clinical practice, research, and policy to investigate how social determinants influence health. Currently, Dr. DePriest leads a team of patient navigation subject matter experts as part of the mixed-methods evaluation of the Accountable Health Communities Model, funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The model seeks to evaluate whether addressing health-related social needs reduces health care costs and improves healthcare utilization. Dr. DePriest also works on program evaluations for clients including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Prevention Network.

Dr. DePriest’s research interests stem from her experience working as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit. Her previous research investigated how social determinants influence health, whether that was looking at the impact of the built environment on children’s asthma, how state policy impacts nurse practitioner workforce outcomes (wages, self-employment, and location in a health professional shortage area), or investigating strategies to improve healthcare access and quality in the Medicaid program.

Dr. DePriest is a licensed Registered Nurse in Colorado and is an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She is a member of the American Public Health Association and Sigma Theta Tau International, Nu Beta Chapter. Her notable publications include Nurse practitioners’ workforce outcomes under implementation of full practice authority; Defining the social determinants of health for nursing action to achieve health equity: A consensus paper from the American Academy of Nursing; and Addressing Health-Related Social Needs Via Community Resources: Lessons From Accountable Health Communities.