Journal Article
Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Health Care in Medicare Advantage: April 2021
The analysis revealed patterns in which Black and Hispanic beneficiaries had worse results than White beneficiaries on numerous clinical care measures.
Sep 29, 2021
Journal Article
Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Health Care in Medicare Advantage: April 2020
This report describes the quality of health care received in 2018 by Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans nationwide. This 2020 report is the fifth in a series of reports that are updated annually.
Sep 17, 2021
Journal Article
Inpatient Care Experiences Differ by Preferred Language Within Racial/Ethnic Groups
We described differences in patient experiences of hospital care by preferred language within racial/ethnic groups using HCAHPS survey data. We measured patient-mix adjusted overall, between-and within-hospital differences inpatient experience by language, using linear regression.
Mar 18, 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
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Medicare Beneficiaries' Carecoordination Experiences
Hispanic, black, and Asian/Pacific Islander Medicare beneficiaries are more likely to have gaps in their care coordination than their non-Hispanic white peers.
Jul 25, 2016
Journal Article
Mathematics Teacher Development in the Context of District Managed Curriculum
The purpose of this study was to develop and test the viability of a conceptual framework for analyzing mathematics instruction and mathematics teacher development within the context of policies regarding district-wide adoption of curriculum.
Jun 2, 2015
Journal Article
Characterizing the Mental Health Care of U.S.Cambodian Refugees
This study examined U.S. Cambodian refugees' utilization of mental health services across provider types, levels of minimally adequate care, and mode of communication with providers.
Jun 1, 2015
Journal Article
Do Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Quality and Patient Experience Within Medicare Plans Generalize Across Measures and Racial/Ethnic Groups?
Health plan structural changes might reduce disparities across multiple measures.
Mar 17, 2015
Journal Article
Do Experiences with Medicare Managed Care Vary According to the Proportion of Same-Race/Ethnicity/language Individuals Enrolled in One's Contract?
The authors examine whether care experiences and immunization for racial/ethnic/language minority Medicare beneficiaries vary with the proportion of same-group beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts.
Mar 17, 2015
Journal Article
Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Cambodian Refugees
The authors sought to determine rates of diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in Cambodian refugees, and to assess the proportion whose conditions are satisfactorily managed in comparison to the general population.
Feb 11, 2015
Journal Article
A Comparison of Cambodian-American Adolescent Substance Use Behavior to National and Local Norms
This study was designed to compare rates of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use in Cambodian-American adolescents with norms from nationally- and regionally-representative peers.
Aug 25, 2014
Journal Article
Does the Racial/Ethnic Composition of Medicare Advantage Plans Reflect Their Areas of Operation?
There is little evidence that health plans are selectively underenrolling blacks, Latinos, or Asians to a substantial degree. A small but potentially important subset of plans disproportionately serves minority beneficiaries.
Aug 28, 2013
Journal Article
Using Indirect Estimates Based on Name and Census Tract to Improve the Efficiency of Sampling Matched Ethnic Couples from Marriage License Data
We describe a new method that allows oversampling on the basis of indirectly estimated race/ethnicity when name and address information are available.
2013
Journal Article
A Randomized Experiment Investigating the Suitability of Speech-Enabled IVR and Web Modes for Publicly Reported Surveys of Patients' Experience of Hospital Care
The HCAHPS Survey obtains hospital patients' experiences using four modes: Mail Only, Phone Only, Mixed (mail/phone follow-up), and Touch-Tone (push-button) Interactive Voice Response with option to transfer to live interviewer (TT-IVR/Phone).
Nov 28, 2012
Journal Article
Racial/ethnic Disparities in Medicare Part D Experiences
Quality improvement efforts may be needed to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in beneficiary experience with PD coverage.
Oct 29, 2012
Journal Article
Are There Differences in the Medicare Experiences of Beneficiaries in Puerto Rico Compared with Those in the U.S. Mainland?
The authors compare the experiences of elderly Medicare beneficiaries in Puerto Rico with their English-preferring and Spanish-preferring Medicare counterparts in the U.S. mainland.
Mar 1, 2012
Journal Article
Experiences of Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with ESRD: Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Survey Results
Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have special health needs; little is known about their care experiences.
2012
Journal Article
Gender Differences in Patients' Perceptions of Inpatient Care
Targeting the experiences of women may be a promising means of improving overall patient experience scores (because women comprise a majority of all inpatients); the experiences of older and sicker women, and those in for-profit hospitals, may merit additional examination.
2012
Journal Article
Reporting CAHPS and HEDIS Data by Race/Ethnicity for Medicare Beneficiaries
How should ethnic group-specific quality of care data best be reported to Medicare beneficiaries?
2012
Journal Article
How Do the Experiences of Medicare Beneficiary Subgroups Differ Between Managed Care and Original Medicare?
Quality improvement in Medicare managed care plans should target care for particular subgroups such as beneficiaries who have low incomes, are less healthy, older, female, and who did not complete high school.
Aug 1, 2011
Journal Article
Immunization Disparities By Hispanic Ethnicity and Language Preference
Hispanic seniors, especially if Spanish-preferring and in linguistically isolated areas, are immunized at lower rates than non-Hispanic whites. Physicians and policymakers may be able to help by addressing cultural and linguistic barriers to immunization.
Jan 24, 2011
Journal Article
The Unusually Poor Physical Health Status of Cambodian Refugees Two Decades After Resettlement
In interviews conducted for this study, Cambodian refugees reported exceedingly poor health when compared to the general population of Asian immigrants.
Sep 29, 2010
Journal Article
Do Hospitals Rank Differently on HCAHPS for Different Patient Subgroups?
Prior research documents differences in patient-reported experiences by patient characteristics.
2010
Journal Article
Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression After Trauma Center Hospitalization
Key demographic and injury characteristics could help to identify trauma survivors who are at increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression and would benefit from targeted screening, patient education, and early intervention efforts.
2010
Journal Article
Racial/ethnic Differences in Patients' Perceptions of Inpatient Care Using the HCAHPS Survey
Using HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, also known as the CAHPS Hospital Survey) data from 2,684 hospitals, the authors compare the experiences of Hispanic, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and multiracial inpatients with those of non-Hispanic White inpatients to understand the roles of between- and within-hospital differences in patients' perspectives of hospital care.
2010
Journal Article
Adjusting for Subgroup Differences in Extreme Response Tendency in Ratings of Health Care: Impact on Disparity Estimates
Failure to adjust for subgroup differences in extreme response tendency ratings may misdirect resources for reducing disparities and provide inaccurate assessments of some providers.
2009
Journal Article
Alcohol Abuse and Illegal Drug Use Among Los Angeles County Trauma Patients: Prevalence and Evaluation of Single Item Screener
This research studied alcohol abuse and illegal substance use patterns in a large cohort of urban trauma patients, identified correlates of alcohol abuse, and assessed the utility of a single item binge-drinking screener for identifying patients with past
2009
Journal Article
Effects of Survey Mode, Patient Mix, and Nonresponse on CAHPS Hospital Survey Scores
Valid comparisons of hospital performance require that reported hospital scores be adjusted for survey mode and patient mix.
2009
Journal Article
Mental Health Service Utilization After Physical Trauma: The Importance of Physician Referral
Examines the relative influence of patient-related factors and physician referral on mental health service utilization among patients after a traumatic physical injury.
2009
Journal Article
Use of Expert Ratings as Sampling Strata for a More Cost-Effective Probability Sample of a Rare Population
The authors consider situations in which externally observable characteristics allow experts to quickly categorize individual households as likely or unlikely to contain a member of a rare target population.
2009
Journal Article
How Do Proxy Responses and Proxy-Assisted Responses Differ from What Medicare Beneficiaries Might Have Reported About Their Health Care?
One should treat proxy responses to subjective ratings cautiously. Even seemingly innocuous reading, writing, and translation by proxies may influence answers. Spouses may be accurate proxies for the elderly in evaluations of health care.
2008
Journal Article
The Relationship Between Spanish Language Use and Substance Use Behaviors Among Latino Youth: A Social Network Approach
Identifies Spanish language-sensitive attributes associated with substance use in Latino adolescents. Protective attributes included parental monitoring, more extended family members in the network, and less substance use among network members.
2008
Journal Article
Problem-Oriented Reporting of CAHPS Consumer Evaluations of Health Care
CAHPS is an organized effort to provide consumers with standardized, comprehensible, and usable data regarding consumers' experiences with health care
Oct 1, 2007
Journal Article
Adolescent Participation in Preventive Health Behaviors, Physical Activity, and Nutrition: Differences Across Immigrant Generations for Asians and Latinos Compared with Whites
The authors investigated preventive health behaviors, physical activity, television viewing or video game playing, and nutrition, among Asian and Latino adolescents living in the United States; assessed trends across generations; and compared each generation with White adolescents.
Feb 1, 2007
Journal Article
Early Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and Its Relationship to Underage Drinking
Policy makers should consider limiting a variety of marketing practices that could contribute to drinking in early adolescence.
Jan 1, 2007
Journal Article
Problem Drinking Among Cambodian Refugees in the United States: How Big of a Problem Is It?
The present study assesses current drinking behavior in a representative sample of Cambodian refugees.
2007
Report
Relationship Commitment and Its Implications for Unprotected Sex Among Impoverished Women Living in Shelters and Low-Income Housing in Los Angeles County
Finds that relationship commitment among impoverished women predicts more frequent engagement in unprotected sex with their partners, even after controlling for type of relationship.
2007
Journal Article
Sexual Risk Among Impoverished Women: Understanding the Role of Housing Status
The goal of this study is to enhance understanding of the association between housing status and having multiple sex partners, by investigating how housing status differences can be accounted for by hypothesized explanatory factors.
2007
Journal Article
U.S. Cambodian Refugees' Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Mental Health Problems
This study examined U.S. Cambodian refugees' use of complementary and alternative medicine and Western sources of care for psychiatric problems. Analyses assessed the extent to which complementary and alternative medicine was used in the absence of Western mental health treatment and whether use of complementary and alternative medicine was associated with decreased use of Western services.
2007
Research Brief
Forging the Link Between Alcohol Advertising and Underage Drinking
This research brief shows that alcohol advertising appears to promote adolescent drinking and suggests that school drug prevention programs can blunt the impact of alcohol ads on youth.
Jan 19, 2006
Journal Article
Barriers to Mental Health Care Utilization for U.S. Cambodian Refugees
Asian Americans encounter barriers to mental health care, some of which are structural, whereas others may be cultural.
2006
Journal Article
Predictors of Unprotected Sex with Non-Cohabitating Primary Partners Among Sheltered and Low-Income Housed Women in Los Angeles County
This study investigated associations of substance use, relationship abuse and HIV self-protective behavior with unprotected sex among 290 impoverished women with a non-cohabitating primary partner.
2006
Journal Article
Rates and Correlates of Seeking Mental Health Services Among Cambodian Refugees
Authors assessed the rates and correlates of seeking mental health services among a probability sample of Cambodian refugees who needed such services.
2006
Journal Article
Sampling with Field Burden Constraints: An Application to Sheltered Homeless and Low-Income Housed Women
Authors present a statistically efficient, cost-effective way of collecting a probability sample in the presence of certain field burden constraints.
2006
Report
Toward a More Comprehensive Understanding of Violence Against Impoverished Women
Reports on physical, sexual, and psychological violence among women were randomly sampled from temporary shelter settings and low-income housing in Los Angeles County and finds that they experienced notable rates of violence during the past 6 months.
2006
Journal Article
Victimization and Health Among Indigent Young Women in the Transition to Adulthood: A Portrait of Need
This study highlights striking rates of victimization and its association with physical and behavioral health problems among indigent young women.
2006
Draft
Analysis of Case-Mix Strategies and Recommendations for Medicare Fee-for-Service CAHPS: Case-Mix Adjustment Report: 2004
For readers familiar with the 2000-2002 (Years 1-3) Case-Mix Reports, the authors briefly describe how this report differs from the previous year's report.
Dec 15, 2005
Draft
Analysis of Case-Mix Strategies and Recommendations for Medicare Fee-for-Service CAHPS: Case-mix Adjustment Report: 2003
For readers familiar with the 2000-2002 (Years 1-3) Case-Mix Reports, the authors briefly describe how this report differs from the previous year's report.
Dec 5, 2005
Research Brief
HIV Testing Among Indigent Women: Who Gets Tested?
Among a random sample of 460 homeless (sheltered) women and 438 women living in low-income housing (housed women) in Los Angeles County, 83 percent reported that they had been tested for HIV at least once: 88 percent of sheltered women versus 80 percent of housed women.
Nov 25, 2005
Journal Article
Saturated in Beer: Awareness of Beer Advertising in Late Childhood and Adolescence
Television beer ads result in high levels of beer advertising awareness in children as young as age 9, and even higher awareness among 14-year-olds.
Jul 1, 2005
Journal Article
Does Alcohol Advertising Promote Adolescent Drinking? Results from a Longitudinal Assessment
Examines the relationship between exposure to different forms of alcohol advertising and subsequent drinking among US adolescents.
2005
Report
Do Medicaid and Commercial CAHPS Scores Correlate Within Plans? A New Jersey Case Study
Within-plan variability in evaluations of care by Medicaid and commercial health plan member evaluations is too great to permit meaningful inference about plan performance for one population from the other for many important outcomes.
2005
Journal Article
Patterns of Unit and Item Nonresponse in the CAHPS Hospital Survey
Nonresponse weights should not be used for between-hospital comparisons of the CAHPS Hospital Survey.
2005
Report
Trauma, Depression, Coping, and Mental Health Service Seeking Among Impoverished Women
Examines the relationship among trauma, coping, depression, and seeking mental health services in a probability sample of sheltered homeless and low-income housed women.
Jan 1, 2005
Journal Article
Prevalence and Co-Occurrence of Violence, Substance Use and Disorder, and HIV Risk Behavior: A Comparison of Sheltered and Low-Income Housed Women in Los Angeles County
Violence against women, substance use and disorder, and HIV represent three significant threats to the health of women, yet little is known about the extent of these epidemics among indigent women. This study investigates and documents differences in the prevalence and co-occurrence of physical and sexual violence, substance use and disorder, and HIV risk behavior in sizable probability samples of sheltered homeless and low-income housed women.
2004
Research Brief
Saturated in Beer
To assess whether children as young as 9 are affected by beer advertising, a group of RAND researchers surveyed a large sample of Midwestern children in the 4th and 9th grades.
2004
Draft
Analysis of Case-Mix Strategies and Recommendations for 2000 Medicare Fee-for-Service CAHPS
In support of Medicare's Fee-for-Service Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS) project, the authors examine the impact of different case-mix strategies on attempts to strip ratings and reports of response bias.
2003
Draft
Final Task 9 Report: 2001 Analysis of Case-Mix Strategies and Recommendations for Medicare-Fee-for-Service CAHPS
In support of Medicare's Fee-for-Service Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS) project, the authors examine the impact of different case-mix strategies on attempts to strip ratings and reports of response bias.
2003
Journal Article
Patterns and Correlates of HIV Testing Among Sheltered and Low-Income Housed Women in Los Angeles County
Few women reported lack of money, transportation, or access to testing facilities as primary barriers to being tested.
2003
Draft
Sampling with Field Burden Constraints: An Application to Sheltered Homeless and Low-Income Housed Women
In this paper we present a statistically efficient means of collecting a probability sample in the presence of field burden constraints.
2003