Department of Health Policy and Management
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
University of Massachusetts
Collaborators
The Quality 4 All Research Lab works closely with a diverse network of community partners, medical professionals, and researchers from across Massachusetts and the United States. If you are interested in connecting with the lab or exploring a new study, please contact sgoff@umass.edu.
Co-Investigators & Contributors, NIH-Funded Study on MA Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Pediatric Asthma
Arlene Ash, PhD, University of MA Chan Medical School
Arlene Ash is Professor and Division Chief for Biostatistics and Health Services Research in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and an internationally recognized methods expert in health services research. She pioneered tools for using administrative data to monitor and manage health care delivery systems, including those now used by the US Medicare program. In 1996, she co-founded DxCG, Inc. (now a part of Cotiviti) to promote “fair and efficient health care” via predictive software and received AcademyHealth’s 2008 HSR Impact Award (“Risk-Based Predictive Modeling”). She was one of six appointees to the 2011 COPSS-CMS white paper project “Statistical Issues in Assessing Hospital Performance.” Dr. Ash’s UMass Chan team helps MassHealth incorporate social determinants of health into Medicaid/CHIP global payments. Her over 200 research publications reflect long-standing interests in gender, age, and racial disparities and quality, equity, and efficiency in health care financing and delivery. For more about Arlene, visit https://profiles.umassmed.edu/display/130117
Jerry Krishnan, MD, PhD, University of Illinois
Kim Geissler, PhD, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Kim Geissler is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Kim’s research uses large datasets and advanced empirical methods to explore factors affecting access to and coordination of health care. Her current work focuses on physician referrals and coordination of care measured using health insurance claims data. She uses economic modeling and network science to examine the relationship between insurance, physician, and organizational factors and health care coordination and access. Kim received her BA from Williams College, her PhD from University of North Carolina, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston University. For more about Kim and a list of her published research visit, her website - https://kimberleygeissler.wordpress.com/.
Dr. Krishnan is a physician-scientist with expertise in the care of patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other complex obstructive lung disorders. Dr. Krishnan is an expert in care delivery science and co-directs the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design. He is an investigator in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute-funded research networks, and is conducting studies to identify new treatment strategies for patients with asthma and COPD. Dr. Krishnan served as a member of the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2007-2012 (Chair, 2011-2012), the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Respiratory Measurement Advisory Panel (2010- 2015), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Clinical Trials Review Committee (2012- 2017; Chair 2016-17).
Peter Lindenauer, MD, MSC, MHM, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School - Baystate
Peter K. Lindenauer, MD, MSc, MHM, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Healthcare Delivery and Population Science, and Assistant Dean for Population Health at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School – Baystate. A founding Board member of the Society of Hospital Medicine, Dr. Lindenauer’s research focuses on evaluating the quality and outcomes of care for patients with common medical conditions, the development and testing of strategies to increase the delivery of evidence-based interventions to patients with obstructive lung disease, and using routinely collected data to examine the effectiveness of alternative treatments and care strategies. He recently led a 2-year program aimed at improving outcomes for low-income families with asthma through community health worker-delivered asthma self-management support education paired with home trigger remediation. His research has been supported by grants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Lindenauer is the author of nearly 300 peer-reviewed publications, is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Hospital Medicine, and the Joint Commission Journal of Quality and Patient Safety, and has served on and chaired multiple NIH study sections focused on health services research, dissemination and implementation, and career development. Dr Lindenauer is a graduate of the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and was chief resident in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco.
Meng-Shiou Shieh, PhD, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School - Baystate
Meng-Shiou Shieh, PhD, is a biostatistician in the Department of Healthcare Delivery & Population Science at the UMass Chan Medical School - Baystate in Springfield, MA. She received her PhD in statistics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has worked as a statistical consultant for several studies, and her recent work focuses on the application of analytic methods appropriate for use with large observational databases like the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and Premier, Inc.’s Perspective.
Principal Investigator, NIH-Funded Study on Promoting Children's Oral Health - MA Fluoride Varnish Study
Ashley Kranz, PhD, Rand Corporation
Ashley Kranz is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She conducts health services research focused on improving access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes of vulnerable populations, including children and adults enrolled in Medicaid. Kranz's work primarily uses quantitative research methods to make causal inferences. She has worked extensively on oral health and access to dental care, studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to dental care, the integration of preventive oral health services into pediatric medical settings, and children's access to dental care. Kranz also studies the impact of health systems on low SES patients, as well as approaches used in high performing safety net clinics to promote integration across primary care, specialty care, and community-based organizations. She has also studied strategies to address the clinical and social needs of individuals dually-enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, documented obesity interventions for American Indian youth, and evaluated state policies to reduce neonatal abstinence syndrome. Kranz received her Ph.D. in health policy and management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is principal investigator of a 4-year NIH-funded study to examine factors promoting and deterring pediatric medical providers’ delivery of fluoride varnish, a project for which Dr. Sarah Goff of the Q4A Research Lab participates as co-investigator.
Other Collaborators
Aline Gubrium, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Aline Gubrium is a primary collaborator on the Q4A lab's most recent study, LGBTQ+ Photovoice. Dr. Aline Gubrium has extensive experience in innovative research methodologies that focus on narrative, participatory, and arts- and culture centered approaches. She is a medical anthropologist with expertise in sexual and reproductive health inequities, specifically experienced by historically marginalized communities and families. Gubrium’s research lies at the intersection of ethnography, critical narrative intervention, and action. She was funded by the Ford Foundation for the “Hear Our Stories: Diasporic Youth for Sexual Rights and Justice” project, which centered digital storytelling as a critical narrative intervention for conducting sensory ethnography on sexual and reproductive health inequities and to advocate for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice in collaboration with young pregnant and parenting Latinx women. Gubrium has recently served as MPI on an NIMHD-funded project, “MOCHA Moving Forward: A CBPR Investigation of Chronic Disease Prevention in Older, Low-Income African-American Men,” which takes a CBPR approach to evaluate the effectiveness of a narratively enhanced intervention in lowering stress and risk of chronic diseases among men of color, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health-funded STRIVE study to complete a comprehensive 4-year investigation using participatory research methods with two diverse communities in the state to examine how structural racism, in combination with other systems of oppression, contributes to inequitable adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) outcomes for youth. Gubrium's 2013 and 2015 books explain participatory visual and digital methodologies for social research, health promotion and practice, and advocacy.
Laura Attanasio, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Laura Attanasio is a primary collaborator on several studies, but most recently the BESIDE project. Her research addresses issues of quality and equity in women’s reproductive healthcare, drawing on theory and conceptual frameworks from health services research and sociology. Her current work focuses on understanding how the patient-provider relationship shapes decision making and procedure use in maternity care. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Vassar College and her M.S. and Ph.D., both in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration, from the University of Minnesota. She is an Assistant Professor in Health Policy and Management at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.
Betsy Brooks, MD, MPH, Pediatric Physicians' Organization at Children's Hospital
Betsy Brooks is the Quality 4 All Lab’s primary collaborator on a study investigating the impact of the Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP) on pediatric practices across Massachusetts. The Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s (PPOC), is a network of ​more than 500 primary care pediatricians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants caring for over 350,000 children across the Commonwealth that is affiliated with Boston Children's Hospital. In 2013, the PPOC launched the Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP) to create sustainable capacity to deliver integrated, evidence-based, behavioral health services in the pediatric medical home, with coordination of care at its core. Read more about BHIP here.
Dr. Betsy A. Brooks is the Western Mass Regional Director of the PPOC and a member of the BHIP team. In these roles, Dr. Brooks supports pediatric practices in developing their behavioral health programs. Prior to joining the PPOC in 2017, Dr. Brooks practiced as a pediatrician for over 30 years at Holyoke Pediatric Associates and at Baystate Medical Center. Dr. Brooks received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and an MPH from Columbia Mailmen School of Public Health.
​
Neena Qasba, MD, Baystate Health
Dr. Qasba is the primary collaborator on several studies relating to family planning and maternal health, including:
-
An implementation study of a new doula program that focuses on Black birthing people who live in the greater Springfield region of MA and who receive pregnancy-related services at Baystate Medical Center. Although MA performs well overall on many national health indicators and outcomes, maternal racial and ethnic health disparities and healthcare inequities are similar in the Commonwealth to those seen nationally. For example, Black birthing people in MA are twice as likely to experience pregnancy-associated death compared to White birthing people and have more than twice the rate of severe maternal morbidity (175 vs. 83 per 10,000 hospitalizations). Working together with Dr. Qasba, her team, and the MA Health Policy Commission, the Q4A Lab will evaluate elements of the program.
-
A multi-stakeholder study of the 2017 ACCESS Law (Act relative to advancing Contraceptive Coverage and Economic Security in our State) in Massachusetts, which allowed pharmacists to fill 12-month supplies of short-acting reversible contraceptive (SARC) methods. The first part of this study, which interviewed pharmacists across MA about the system, pharmacy, and patient levels that impact implementation was published February 2022 in the Journal of the American Pharmacists' Association. Forthcoming publications explore the perceptions of healthcare providers and individuals using SARCs.
Dr. Qasba is a practicing OBGYN and complex family planning specialist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts and currently serves as the medical director of Wesson Women’s Clinic. She is an Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate where she teaches residents and medical students. She completed her MPH in Health Policy and Management and has a research interest in policy implementation particularly in maternal health and reproductive health. She is active in quality and process improvement work in her community and institution with a focus on health equity and racial disparities.
Nancy Byatt, DO, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
