Ann C. Haas

Statistical Analyst

Pittsburgh Office

Education

M.S. in biostatistics, University of Michigan; M.P.H. in epidemiology, University of Michigan; B.A. in biology, University of Michigan

Overview

Ann Haas is a statistical analyst at the RAND Corporation. She has experience working with large-scale complex-design survey data, including design, weight estimation, and analysis; hierarchical modeling; survival analysis; value-added analysis; and other types of modeling. Haas has worked with SAS, Stata, and R on both Windows and Linux platforms. She has worked primarily in the areas of health and education. Haas has an M.S. in biostatistics from the University of Michigan; an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of Michigan; and a B.A. in biology from the University of Michigan.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Measuring patient and family experiences with Hospice care
Measuring racial/ethnic disparities
Evaluating the effect of neighborhood change on residents’ health

Publications

Journal Article
Examining the Cross-sectional Association Between Neighborhood Conditions, Discrimination, and Telomere Length in a Predominantly African American Sample
Disproportionate exposure to adverse neighborhood conditions and greater discrimination may contribute to health disparities among African Americans.
Jan 10, 2023
Journal Article
Sleep Disturbances, Changes in Sleep, and Cognitive Function in Low-Income African Americans
In a predominantly African-American sample of older adults, worsening of sleep efficiency was associated with poorer cognitive function. Improving sleep health may support Alzheimer's prevention and reduce health disparities.
Jun 23, 2022
Journal Article
Assessment of Variation in Electronic Health Record Capabilities and Reported Clinical Quality Performance in Ambulatory Care Clinics, 2014–2017
Between 2014 and 2017, clinics with EHRs having greater capabilities had better quality measures than other clinics, but clinics that gained EHR capabilities during this time had smaller increases in quality that were not statistically significant.
May 4, 2021
Journal Article
Evaluation Report of the First Three Years (2017-2019) of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design Model Test
CMMI contracted with the RAND Corporation to evaluate the first three years of the MA VBID model test. This report serves as our second and final evaluation of the first three years of the model test.
Oct 21, 2020
Journal Article
Educational Attainment and Perceived Need for Urgent Care
This article presents analyses of perceived need for urgent care among seniors.
Oct 1, 2020
Journal Article
Prevalence and Correlates of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Urban-Dwelling, Low-Income, Predominantly African-American Women
Low-income African Americans are a high-risk group for obstructive sleep apnea, but remain under-diagnosed and under-treated. The current findings show a high prevalence of OSA in African-American women.
Aug 4, 2020
Journal Article
Differences in Caregiver Reports of the Quality of Hospice Care Across Settings
Important opportunities exist to improve quality of hospice care in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Quality improvement and regulatory interventions targeting these settings are needed to ensure that all hospice decedents and their family receive high-quality, patient- and family-centered hospice care.
Jun 25, 2020
Journal Article
Broken Windows, Broken Zzs: Poor Housing and Neighborhood Conditions Are Associated with Objective Measures of Sleep Health
Sleep is a critical contributor to health and well-being. Sleep disturbances may contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in health. Understanding socio-environmental determinants of sleep health disparities is a public health imperative.
Apr 29, 2020
Journal Article
Association Between Receipt of Emotional Support and Caregivers' Overall Hospice Rating
"Too much emotional support" is not always viewed negatively in consumer ratings of hospice care.
2020
Journal Article
Do Investments in Low-Income Neighborhoods Produce Objective Change in Health-Related Neighborhood Conditions?
This study examined the effect of neighborhood investments on neighborhood walkability, presence of incivilities, and crime in two low-income, primarily African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.
2020
Journal Article
Food Insecurity Is Associated with Objectively Measured Sleep Problems
Food Insecurity (FI) can be a profound source of stress, which may increase the risk for sleep disturbance. This is the first study to examine the association between FI and objectively and subjectively measured sleep.
2020
Journal Article
Indirect Estimation of Race/Ethnicity for Survey Respondents Who Do Not Report Race/Ethnicity
It may be worthwhile to impute race/ethnicity when this information is unavailable in survey data sets due to item non-response.
Sep 17, 2019
Journal Article
How Are Medical Groups Identified as High Performing? The Effect of Different Approaches to Classification of Performance
To accurately identify "high-performing providers", a standard definition of high-performance and an agreed-upon approach to measurement are necessary.
Jul 24, 2019
Journal Article
Imputation of Race/Ethnicity to Enable Measurement of HEDIS Performance by Race/Ethnicity
We compared performance for several alternative models predicting self-reported race/ethnicity in cross-sectional observational data to assess accuracy of estimates.
2019
Journal Article
Associations of CAHPS Composites With Global Ratings of the Doctor Vary by Medicare Beneficiaries' Health Status
Good care coordination and communication are especially important for less healthy Medicare beneficiaries' overall evaluations of their doctors.
Aug 24, 2018
Journal Article
The Association Between Discrimination and PTSD in African Americans: Exploring the Role of Gender
Discrimination may contribute to the disparate rates of PTSD experienced by African Americans in two lower-income Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
Apr 12, 2018
Journal Article
Predictors of Retention in an Alcohol and Risky Sex Prevention Program for Homeless Young Adults
Homeless young adults were less likely to complete an alcohol and other drug and risky sex prevention program if they had slept outside or received the program in an urban setting.
Apr 3, 2018
Journal Article
Adjusting Medicare Advantage Star Ratings for Socioeconomic Status and Disability
We examine the impact of socioeconomic status and disability adjustments on Medicare Advantage plans' and prescription drug plans' contract star ratings.
2018
Journal Article
What Matters Most to Whom: Racial, Ethnic, and Language Differences in the Health Care Experiences Most Important to Patients
Policies to improve patient experience may be more effective if tailored to the patient population at a given practice or hospital.
Oct 12, 2017
Journal Article
Black and Hispanic Patients Receive Hospice Care Similar to That of White Patients When in the Same Hospices
Black and Hispanic patients received care from poorer quality hospices than white patients.
Aug 1, 2017
Journal Article
Does a Quality Improvement Campaign Accelerate Take-Up of New Evidence? A Ten-State Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of the IHI's Project JOINTS
States participating in Project JOINTS, a six-month quality improvement campaign to reduce infection risk after joint replacement surgery, adhered to three new evidence-based practices significantly more than non-participants.
May 23, 2017
Research Brief
The Role of Urban Congregations in Addressing HIV
In a series of collaborative studies, RAND researchers sought to better understand urban congregations' capacity for HIV prevention and care, specifically in the areas of stigma reduction and HIV testing. This research brief outlines their findings.
Apr 27, 2017
Journal Article
Medicare Advantage and Fee-for-Service Performance on Clinical Quality and Patient Experience Measures: Comparisons from Three Large States
Performance data for 9.9 million Medicare patients showed that Medicate Advantage outperformed Medicare Fee for Service across all 16 clinical quality measures examined.
2017
Report
Evaluation of Delaware Stars for Early Success: Final Report
In 2013, the Delaware Office of Early Learning contracted with the RAND Corporation to evaluate Delaware Stars for Early Success, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early learning and care programs. This report shares all findings.
Nov 7, 2016
Journal Article
Establishing Limits for Supplemental Items on a Standardized National Survey
Response rates for the Medicare Advantage Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (MA CAHPS) survey were 2.5 percentage points lower when 12 questions had been added to the survey, compared with no additional questions.
Oct 20, 2016
Journal Article
Prevalence and Consequences of Sleep Problems in Military Wives
Sleep problems among spouses of military service members were reported at rates higher than the general population and were associated with more symptoms of depression.
May 9, 2016
Journal Article
Effects of a Pilot Church-Based Intervention to Reduce HIV Stigma and Promote HIV Testing Among African Americans and Latinos
Programs to reduce HIV stigma in churches may have synergistic effects with HIV testing when provided in combination.
Apr 25, 2016
Journal Article
Advice to Quit Smoking and Ratings of Health Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 65+
Patients whose doctors provide advice on quitting smoking are more likely to be satisfied with the care they receive.
Apr 20, 2016
Journal Article
Less Use of Extreme Response Options by Asians to Standardized Care Scenarios May Explain Some Racial/Ethnic Differences in CAHPS Scores
This study explores whether lower ERT is observed for Asians than whites in response to standardized vignettes depicting patient experiences of care and whether ERT might in part explain Asians reporting worse care than whites.
2016
Journal Article
Church-Based HIV Screening in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities of California, 2011–2012
By expanding the reach of HIV testing programs, church-based testing events could help achieve the goal of universal testing.
2016
Journal Article
US Religious Congregations' Programming to Support Veterans: A Mixed Methods Study
We conducted a mixed methods study using nationally representative congregational survey data and in-depth interviews with congregational leaders about veterans' reintegration needs.
Nov 20, 2015
Journal Article
Predictors of HIV-Related Stigmas Among African American and Latino Religious Congregants
Inform church-based stigma interventions by exploring dimensions of HIV stigma among African American and Latino religious congregants and determining how these are related to drug addiction and homosexuality stigmas and knowing someone HIV-positive.
Aug 6, 2015
Research Brief
Improving Sleep Health for U.S. Servicemembers: Policies, Programs, Barriers to Implementation, and Recommendations
Sleep problems can have consequences for servicemembers' health and for force readiness and resiliency. This first-ever comprehensive review of sleep-related policies and programs led to recommendations for improving sleep across the force.
Apr 6, 2015
Report
Sleep in the Military: Promoting Healthy Sleep Among U.S. Servicemembers
Sleep problems can have long-term consequences for servicemembers' health and for force readiness and resiliency. This first-ever comprehensive review of sleep-related policies and programs led to recommendations for improving sleep across the force.
Apr 6, 2015
Research Brief
Sleep Problems and Their Impact on U.S. Servicemembers: Results of a Cross-Service Survey
Sleep problems can have consequences for servicemembers' health and for force readiness and resiliency. Findings from a large-scale survey of servicemembers offer guidance for policies and programs to identify, treat, and prevent sleep problems.
Apr 6, 2015
Journal Article
Correlates of HIV Testing Among African American and Latino Church Congregants: The Role of HIV Stigmatizing Attitudes and Discussions About HIV
Faith-based organizations can be key settings in which to reach African Americans and Latinos for HIV prevention, but little is known regarding factors that predict congregants' HIV testing behaviors.
Mar 10, 2015
Journal Article
Acculturation and Drug Use Stigma Among Latinos and African Americans: An Examination of a Church-Based Sample
Substance use patterns among Latinos likely reflect changes in attitudes resulting from acculturation, but little is known about Latinos' attitudes regarding drug addiction.
Feb 2, 2015
Journal Article
Clinician Advice to Quit Smoking Among Seniors
Little smoking research in the past 20 years includes persons 50 and older; herein we describe patterns of clinician cessation advice to US seniors, including variation by Medicare beneficiary characteristics.
2015
Report
Hospice Experience of Care Survey: Development and Field Test
This report describes development of the Hospice Experience of Care Survey, field test design, procedures, analytic methods and findings, and the final survey for national implementation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Aug 8, 2014
Journal Article
Predictors of the Existence of Congregational HIV Programs: Similarities and Differences Compared with Other Health Programs
Results of this study can inform policy interventions to increase the capacity of religious congregations to address HIV and health.
2014
Journal Article
A Retrospective Evaluation of the Perfecting Patient Care University Training Program for Health Care Organizations
This study evaluated how the Perfecting Patient Care (PPC) University, a quality improvement (QI) training program for health care leaders and clinicians, affected the ability of organizations to improve the health care they provide.
2014
Report
Improving the Deployment of Army Health Care Professionals: An Evaluation of PROFIS
Describes the functionality of the Army Medical Department's Professional Filler System (PROFIS) in the current operating environment of ongoing deployments and assesses potential modifications and improvements to the system.
May 29, 2013
Journal Article
Which Literacy Skills Are Associated with Smoking?
Increases in reading skills and numeracy skills substantially increase the odds that an individual will quit smoking.
Feb 1, 2012
Draft
The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, Wave 2: User's Guide and Codebook
This codebook covers the second wave of L.A.FANS. Fieldwork for the second wave took place between August 2006 and December 2008.
Jan 20, 2012
Journal Article
Measuring Success for Health Care Quality Improvement Interventions
The objective of this study was to assess how best to measure "QI success" by comparing self-reported and externally rated measures of QI success.
2012
Journal Article
How Event Reporting by US Hospitals Has Changed from 2005 to 2009
This article describes the performance of hospitals' adverse-event reporting systems and the effects of national patient-safety initiatives, including the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005.
2012
Journal Article
Patient Activation and Advocacy: Which Literacy Skills Matter Most?
All literacy skills are significantly associated with patients' self-advocacy when examined in isolation, but greater speaking and listening skills are significantly associated with better patient advocacy when all four skills were examined together.
Sep 1, 2011
Journal Article
Literacy Skills and Calculated 10-Year Risk of Coronary Heart Disease
Skills in reading, listing and numeracy may affect the risk of coronary heart disease.
2011
Journal Article
Patients' Literacy Skills: More Than Just Reading Ability
While reading and numeracy best represent overall literacy, patients' relative strengths may vary. Effective communication with patients should rely on both oral exchange and written health information, and not rely on a single literacy skill.
2011
Draft
Adverse Event Reporting Practices by U.S. Hospitals: Survey Results from 2005 and 2009
Presents results of the Adverse Event Reporting System Survey from 2005 and 2009.
Jul 28, 2010