Sara E. Heins

@SaraEHeins on Twitter

Associate Policy Researcher

Pittsburgh Office

Education

Ph.D. in health policy and management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; B.A. in biology, Cornell University

Overview

Sara E. Heins is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research interests include substance use and dependence, injury, occupational health, health information technology, and maternal and child health. Current RAND projects include developing claims-based algorithms to identify Medicare beneficiaries with functional impairments, educating ambulance organizations on use of a RAND-developed survey instrument, and investigating the association of maternal substance use policies with rates of neonatal abstinence. Recent completed RAND projects include characterizing differences in injuries reported in different care settings, synthesizing literature on blast-injuries among service members, and developing an ambulance cost data reporting instrument.

Heins received her B.A. in biology and society from Cornell University and, prior to beginning her doctoral program, worked as a data analyst for the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium, both at Johns Hopkins. She received her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in health services research.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Heins SE, Sorbero MJ, Jones CM, Dick AW, Stein BD, "High-risk Prescribing to Medicaid-Enrollees Receiving Opioid Analgesics: Individual and County Level Factors," Substance Use and Misuse, 53(10), 2018

Heins SE, Caulkins JP, Kilmer B, Stein BD, "Variation in the Degree of Concentration of Prescription Opioid Utilization Using Different Measures," Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 213, 2020

Heins SE, Castillo RC, "The Impact of Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Threshold Guidelines on Prescribed Dose in a Workers’ Compensation Population," Medical Care, 58(3), 2020

7.Heins SE, Frey KP, Alexander GC, Castillo RC, "Reducing High Dose Opioid Prescribing: State-Level Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Policies, 2007-2017," Pain Medicine, 21(2), 2020

Publications

Report
The Effect of Blast-Related Burn Injuries from Prolonged Field Care to Rehabilitation and Resilience: A Review of the Scientific Literature
Researchers reviewed literature about blast-related burn injury, which is common among service members and is associated with infection, disability, military discharge, and mortality. Further research is needed on burn prevention and field care.
Sep 21, 2020
Journal Article
The State of the Science in Opioid Policy Research
The rigor of study design varies notably across policy categories, highlighting the need for broader adoption of rigorous methods in opioid policy research.
Jul 7, 2020
Report
Limb Salvage and Recovery After Severe Blast Injury: Literature Review for the Eighth Department of Defense International State-of-the-Science Meeting on Blast Injury Research
Advances in medicine, protective equipment, and surgical reconstruction have led to questions about when to emphasize limb salvage over amputation for individuals with severe blast injuries. The authors summarize recent research on the topic.
Jul 6, 2020
Journal Article
Variation in the Degree of Concentration of Prescription Opioid Utilization Using Different Measures
A small share of prescription opioid users account for a large percent of total prescription opioid use.
Jun 26, 2020
Journal Article
The Impact of Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Threshold Guidelines on Prescribed Dose in a Workers' Compensation Population
Passage of morphine equivalent daily dose guidelines was associated with significant decreases in high dose opioid prescribing among workers' compensation claimants with chronic non-cancer related pain.
Jan 31, 2020
Journal Article
Reducing High-Dose Opioid Prescribing: State-Level Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Policies, 2007-2017
Morphine equivalent daily dose thresholds are a promising policy tool, but there is a lack of consensus about how to use the thresholds and what the threshold level should be.
Mar 22, 2019
Journal Article
High-Risk Prescribing to Medicaid Enrollees Receiving Opioid Analgesics: Individual- and County-Level Factors
Among Medicaid recipients, high-risk prescribing of opioids occurred in 39.4% of episodes. Four characteristics -- older age, rural county of residence, white race, and major depression diagnosis -- were associated with higher rates of all types of high-risk prescribing.
Jan 16, 2018