Julie A. Brown

Julie A. Brown is a Senior Survey Researcher and Professor at the RAND School of Public Policy, with expertise in health care quality measurement, patient experience, and survey methodology. She serves as RAND's Director of Survey Market Development, leading efforts to promote survey tools and capabilities. Brown holds a B.A. in Social Ecology from the University of California at Irvine.

• Primary Role: Senior Survey Researcher
• Academic Rank: Professor of Policy Analysis
• Key Projects: CAHPS® survey design, CMS contracts for Medicare Shared Savings Program and MIPS, response rate optimization

Her research focuses on health care program evaluation, patient-centered care, and chronic disease management. She has extensive experience in instrument development, cognitive testing, and managing multi-disciplinary teams for large-scale surveys. Brown's recent articles highlight trends in mixed-mode survey protocols, response rate improvements, and CAHPS® measure refinements across diverse health care settings.

Notable contributions include evaluating CAHPS® implementation in Medicare Advantage plans, developing care coordination metrics, and analyzing disparities in patient experience. She has led field tests and cognitive interviews to refine survey instruments for Medicaid and dental care sectors, ensuring validity and reliability in data collection.

As a project director and co-principal investigator for CMS contracts, she plays a pivotal role in shaping quality assessment frameworks for health care providers and insurance plans. Her work bridges policy analysis with practical survey design, influencing national standards for patient experience measurement.