Biography:

Arlene Ash, PhD, 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 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.

Other:

American Statistical Association’s Committee on Scientific and Public Affairs (2003-present), Chair of its Subcommittee on Electoral Integrity (2004-2009). Founding member of two health centers, Chicago (1973-1976) Board of directors, Fenway Community Development Corporation (1981-2003) and President (1991-1994) Cofounder (1996) of DxCG, Inc., a predictive modeling health informatics company. DxCG (sold in 2004) is now the science division of Verisk Health, Inc.

Peace Corps Volunteer (1967-69). Mathematics teaching. Mindanao State U, Philippines. Frequent lecturer on Women and Mathematics; encourager of young women to become mathematicians. Author of over 150 research publications. Fellow of the American Statistical Association and AcademyHealth. Recipient of numerous awards for work in statistical methods and applied research.

Academic Background:

Ph.D. University of Illinois, Chicago IL

M.S. Washington University, St Louis, MO

B.A. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 

Research:

Arlene Ash is a  Ph.D.-level mathematician who has worked in medical schools as a health services research methodologist since 1984.  Her areas of special interest and expertise include: design of experiments, building and validating models for predicting health care costs, utilization and other health outcomes in populations, comparing quality outcomes across providers, and conducting research into the causes and correlates of health disparities. She writes and lectures about a wide range of methods issues in study design, analysis and reporting, and has frequently led studies to evaluate the relative contributions to health outcomes of individual medical and social risks, medical interventions, and system-level factors.