Sarah Dalton

Policy Analyst

Santa Monica Office

Education

M.A. in gerontology, University of Southern California; B.S. in psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

One Page Bio

Overview

Sarah Dalton is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Her interests center on measuring and improving health care quality in the United States. Previously, Dalton managed the Development and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care Cross-Setting Standardized Patient Assessment Data project, a CMS-contracted RAND project to identify and develop standardized patient assessment items for post-acute care instruments to meet the requirements of the IMPACT Act of 2014. Currently, she supports and manages several projects with the shared aim of improving patient care. Dalton received her M.A. in gerontology with a concentration in the biology of aging from the University of Southern California and her B.S. in psychology and neuroscience from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System
Protecting the Mental and Physical Well‐Being of Frontline Healthcare Workers During COVID‐19 or “COVER-HCW”
RAND Center of Excellence on Health System Performance
MACRA Palliative Care Patient Experience Measure Development
Development and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care Cross-Setting Standardized Assessment Data to Implement the IMPACT Act of 2014

Publications

Journal Article
Part D Senior Savings Model: Model Reach and Scope
This report describes the reach and scope of Medicare's Part D Senior Savings model, which has lower, fixed cost sharing for a specified set of model drugs.
Nov 9, 2022
Journal Article
Protecting the Mental and Physical Well-Being of Frontline Health Care Workers During COVID-19: Study Protocol of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed health care workers at unprecedented risk of stress, burnout, and moral injury. This paper describes the design of an ongoing cluster randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of Stress First Aid (SFA) to Usual Care (UC) in protecting the well-being of frontline health care workers.
May 17, 2022
Journal Article
Standardized Assessment of Depression Symptoms in Post-Acute Care: A Screening Threshold Approach
The present study tested a gateway version of a depression screening protocol (PHQ-2 to 9). Findings suggest the feasibility of a gateway scoring approach to standardized assessment of depression symptoms among PAC patients.
Mar 8, 2022
Research Brief
New Patient-Centered Quality Measures for Office-Based Palliative Care
This research brief describes the development and testing of two patient-centered quality measures of symptom management and communication and provides considerations for palliative care providers that plan to use them.
Sep 13, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Receiving Desired Help for Pain
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care received the help they wanted for their pain.
Sep 3, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Feeling Heard and Understood
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care felt heard and understood by their palliative care provider and team.
Sep 3, 2021
Draft
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development: Summary Report of Alpha Testing
Summarizes findings from a small pilot study which was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of data collection processes and refine the testing plan in advance of a larger national field test.
Jun 15, 2020
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 1: Executive Summary)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 3: Sample Description)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 8: Observational Assessments of Cognitive Function, Mental Status, and Pain)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 6: Impairments and Special Services, Treatments, and Interventions)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 7: Global Health, Care Preferences, and Medication Reconciliation)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 2: Background and Methods)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 4: Cognitive Function)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 5: Mental Status and Pain)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Journal Article
Development and Maintenance of Standardized Cross Setting Patient Assessment Data for Post-Acute Care: Summary Report of Findings from Alpha 2 Pilot Testing
Results of the Alpha 2 feasibility test, used to help develop standardized assessment-based data elements to meet the requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation(IMPACT) Act of 2014.
Jun 7, 2018
Journal Article
Using Health IT to Coordinate Care and Improve Quality in Safety-Net Clinics
This study examined factors associated with use of health information technology (HIT) capabilities for improved care coordination and quality of care in U.S. health centers.
2018

A Toolkit for Community-Police Dialogue

Crime-Free Housing Policies Increase Evictions in Minority and Low-Income Neighborhoods, but Do Not Lead to Reductions in Crime

South Korea's Surprisingly Successful China Policy

Deterrence of North Korean Limited Nuclear Attacks

The Safety and Security of the U.S. Maritime Environment

The Policy Currents Podcast

Developing Strategies for Summer Learning

Improving Psychological Wellbeing and Work Outcomes in the UK

Planning for the Rising Costs of Dementia

Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Climate Change

Sarah Dalton

Education

Overview

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Publications

Part D Senior Savings Model: Model Reach and Scope

Protecting the Mental and Physical Well-Being of Frontline Health Care Workers During COVID-19: Study Protocol of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Standardized Assessment of Depression Symptoms in Post-Acute Care: A Screening Threshold Approach

New Patient-Centered Quality Measures for Office-Based Palliative Care

MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Receiving Desired Help for Pain

MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Feeling Heard and Understood

MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development: Summary Report of Alpha Testing

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 1: Executive Summary)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 3: Sample Description)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 8: Observational Assessments of Cognitive Function, Mental Status, and Pain)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 6: Impairments and Special Services, Treatments, and Interventions)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 7: Global Health, Care Preferences, and Medication Reconciliation)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 2: Background and Methods)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 4: Cognitive Function)

Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 5: Mental Status and Pain)

Development and Maintenance of Standardized Cross Setting Patient Assessment Data for Post-Acute Care: Summary Report of Findings from Alpha 2 Pilot Testing

Using Health IT to Coordinate Care and Improve Quality in Safety-Net Clinics

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