Dr. Hermes is a researcher and educator working at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System who investigates trends in mental healthcare in large healthcare organizations such as the Veterans Health Administration. Along with investigating recent trends in VA mental healthcare utilization, he is interested in evaluating current approaches to the use of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies in real-world clinical settings as well as the implementation and evaluation of novel treatments. His recent work has focused on assessing how providers use pharmacologic agents, such as second-generation antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics in real-world clinical practice, especially in contexts where use may be complicated by side-effects, such as obesity, or driven by less well-documented clinical problems such as insomnia. The recent surge in the development of computer-based therapies has provided Dr. Hermes with the opportunity to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of this novel therapeutic platform, specifically those programs focused on treating insomnia, as a proxy for other computer-based therapies, and as a potential augmentation or substitute to pharmacologic treatment.
