Arlene Ash

Arlene Ash, PhD, is a Professor at the UMass Chan Medical School's Population and Quantitative Health Sciences department. She serves as Division Chief for Biostatistics and Health Services Research, with additional appointments in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. A leading international expert in health services research, she pioneered administrative data applications for healthcare system monitoring and co-founded DxCG, Inc. (now Cotiviti).

• Education:
  • BA in Mathematics, Harvard University
  • MS in Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
  • PhD in Statistics, University of Illinois Chicago

Her research focuses on predictive modeling for healthcare risk adjustment, disparities in gender, age, and race, and health equity through payment reform. She leads initiatives to incorporate social determinants into Medicaid global payments and chaired the COPSS-CMS white paper on hospital performance statistics.

Recent publications analyze Medicaid ACO performance, machine learning applications in payment formulas, and social determinants in ED utilization. Her work spans disciplines including health informatics, chronic disease management, and policy evaluation.

Scientific Recognition:

• AcademyHealth HSR Impact Award (2008)
• Fellow, American Statistical Association
• Fellow, AcademyHealth
• Published over 200 research works

Active in community development as Fenway CDC President (1991-1994), and Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines (1967-1969), she advocates for women in mathematics and healthcare equity.