Fergal Fleming
University of Rochester, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
The U.S. prison and jail population has grown fourfold in 25 years.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
incarcerated individuals
incarceration
prison health
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Validate whether ICD-10 codes Z65.1 and Y92.14x and an admission-source code accurately identify incarcerated patients in electronic medical records and claims databases.
- Evaluate how quickly incarcerated patients in New York State receive inpatient surgery, using the validated identification codes.
- Measure complication and death rates after inpatient surgery for incarcerated patients in New York State, building a method other health studies can reuse.
More about the research
Incarcerated people have a constitutional right to health care, yet almost nothing is known about the quality or outcomes of their surgery, and what is known is troubling. One major barrier is simply finding these patients in health records. Researchers rely on diagnosis codes, standard labels from the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10). These include Z65.1 ('imprisonment and other incarceration'), Y92.14x (prison as the place an injury happened) and an admission-source code. These codes are widely used, but no one has checked whether they are accurate.
Why it matters
The U.S. releases over 7 million people from jails and prisons each year, yet their surgical care is barely measured. A reliable way to find incarcerated patients in health databases could let researchers and policymakers track delays and poor outcomes in surgery. It could guide better care and reduce illness and disability in this group.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Shabbar Ranapurwala
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Public Health & Epidemiology
Examine racial inequities in Medicaid enrollment and in post-release access to MOUD and mental health care among formerly incarcerated people, using North Carolina's 2023 Medicaid expansion and linked records from 2013–2025.
Maria Steenland
University of Maryland, MD·Public Health & Epidemiology
Compare rates of severe maternal morbidity and potentially avoidable delivery complications between pregnant people on Emergency Medicaid and those on full-scope Medicaid, using national Medicaid claims data from 2019–2022.
Jennifer Waljee
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Public Health & Epidemiology
Measure how state opioid prescribing limits affect opioid prescribing and adverse events after surgery, and how effects vary by policy feature, patient, procedure and prescriber, using commercial, Medicare and Medicaid claims with quasi-experimental methods.
The school
University of Rochester: 38 labs on PI Pages, $492M a year on research, 308 research doctorates a year.
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