Li鈥檚 research aims to improve the quality of care provided by the US health care system. A large part of her research tries to understand the consequences of Medicare payment incentives. Recently, she has investigated Medicare鈥檚 performance-based contracts with hospitals and home health care providers, and how these incentives affect their behavior. Li has also investigated the role of health care report cards on patients鈥� use of services.

Her research has been supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Additionally, she has received funding from the Rackham Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the Walter J. McNerney Award, and the Collaborative Doctoral Scholars Program from the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan.