Director of Quality and Research
AAHPM
Katherine Ast, MSW, LCSW, is a doctoral student in social work research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Director of Quality and Research for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Her research interests include elder abuse and intimate partner violence in older adults, and equity and justice for vulnerable populations, especially those needing hospice and palliative care. Prior to her work at AAHPM, she was a high school teacher and coach, a clinical therapist specializing in mental health and developmental disabilities, and a quality improvement professional. At AAHPM, she has led several national projects including the AARP-funded, Optum Labs collaboration described in JPSM’s manuscript “The Serious Illness Population: Ascertainment via Electronic Health Record or Claims Data,” the Moore Foundation-funded Registries Project which created the 501c3 Palliative Care Quality Collaborative (PCQC), and the CMS-funded Palliative Care Measures Project that developed, specified and tested two novel patient-reported outcome performance measures (PRO-PMs): Feeling Heard and Understood, and Receiving Desired Help for Pain.
Thursday, March 5, 2026
1:30pm - 1:55pm PST
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose