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Jie Chen

Chair and Professor, Health Policy and Management
Director, Center on Aging

Dr. Jie Chen is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She also directs the Center on Aging at the University of Maryland, College Park, a leading research hub focused on healthcare systems, public health, economics, and whole-person care to promote aging health and well-being. As the founding director of the Hospital And Public Health Interdisciplinary Research (HAPPY) Lab, her research focuses on advancing healthcare integration, health information technology, and care coordination to improve mental health outcomes.

Contact

jichen@umd.edu

SPH | Room 3310D

(301) 405-2470

Departments/Units

Areas of Interest

Core Faculty

Health Care Delivery System; Health Policy; Care Coordination and System Integration; Health Information Technology; Health Disparities; Mental Health; Aging Health; Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

Dr. Jie Chen is a leading scholar in health economics and health services research, with expertise in aging health disparities, mental health, Alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases, and care coordination to enhance quality of life and health equity among older adults. Dr. Chen's primary focus is to break down silos between healthcare delivery systems and identify best practices to promote and sustain healthcare-community-public health integration. She founded the HAPPY Lab in 2017 and, through her extensive research, has demonstrated the effectiveness of innovative healthcare delivery models, such as Accountable Care Organizations and health information technology, in promoting hospital-community collaboration, improving healthcare quality, and reducing racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities.

With 22 years of experience working with large secondary datasets and claims data, Dr. Chen has developed advanced analytical methods and authored over 180 scholarly articles and book chapters. As a Principal Investigator, she has successfully secured and overseen funding from various NIH institutes, including the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She established a comprehensive data hub for 100% CMS Medicare claims data, integrated with surveys, geographic measures, and health policy metrics, to analyze longitudinal impacts on healthcare utilization, cost, access, and aging health.

Under Dr. Chen’s leadership, the UMD Center on Aging has become a campus-wide hub for advancing innovative research on resilience, health equity, and integrated care models for older adults. She has developed partnerships with clinical leaders, community organizations, and policymakers, collaborating across departments and schools to address the challenges of aging through a multidisciplinary approach. The Center's initiatives emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, leveraging expertise from health services research, policy, economics, and technology to improve health outcomes for aging populations. By advancing data-driven and community-based strategies, Dr. Chen’s work at the Center on Aging has a significant impact on policies and practices that support healthy aging across diverse communities.

PhD, 2008

State University of New York, Stony Brook

HLSA711                            Health Economics and Analysis

HLSA765                            Dissertation Proposal Development Seminar

HLSA712                            Advanced Health Economics

 

2023                           Honoree, Maryland Research Excellence Celebration

2021                           The Leda Amick Wilson Mentoring Award, School of Public Health, University of Maryland

2021                           Outstanding Reviewer for Health Services Research

2019                           40 Under Forty Alumni Honoree, Stony Brook University

2015-2017, 2019        Honoree, University of Maryland Tenth Annual Celebration of Scholarship and Research

2017 - 2019                Nominee, UMD Graduate School’s Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award

2017                           Research and Development Award, School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Selected publications (*Dr. Chen's advisee):

  1. Chen J. Spencer M*, Buchongo P*. Strengthening the Public Health Partnership and Telehealth Infrastructure to Reduce Healthcare Disparities. Population Health Management. Dec 2022. 814-821.
  2. Chen J, Spencer M*, Buchongo P*, Wang M. Evidence of Hospital-based HIT Infrastructure and Reduced Medicare Payment and Racial and Ethnic Disparities among ADRD Patients. Medical Care. 20 December 2022 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36349964/.
  3. Albaroudi A*, Chen J. Racial Disparities in Measures of Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems among ADRD Patients. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5(9):e2233436. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.33436.
  4. Chen J, Benjenk I*, Anderson A*, Barath D*, Reynold C. Disparities in Preventable Hospitalization Among Patients With Alzheimer Diseases. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2021; 60(5):595-604.
  5. Chen J, Amaize A*, Barath D*. Evaluating Telehealth Adoption and Related Barriers Among Hospitals Located in Rural and Urban Areas. Journal of Rural Health. First published: 12 November 2020. 
  6. Park S, Chen J. Racial and Ethnic Patterns and Differences in Health Care Expenditures among Medicare Beneficiaries with and without Cognitive Limitation or Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: A Retrospective Cohort Study. BMC Geriatrics. 20, Article number: 482. 2020. 
  7. Novak P, Sanmartin M, Ali M, Chen J. Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are more Likely to have Health Conditions Associated with Severe Illness from COVID-19. Psychiatric Services. Published Online:19 Nov 2020 
  8. Chu*, Benjenk I*, Chen J. Incremental Medical Expenditures of the Spouses of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2020 Sep 30 doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.09.020 [Epub ahead of print].
  9. Wang N*, Amaize A*, and Chen J. Hospital ACO Affiliation and Urban/Rural Disparities in Preventable ED Rates for Patients with ADRD. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2020 Oct 7.
  10. Benjenk I*, Chen J. Trends in Self-Payment for Outpatient Psychiatrist Visits. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online July 15, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.2072.
  11. Wang N*, Albaroudi A*, Chen J. Decomposing Urban and Rural Disparities of Preventable ED Visits among Community-dwelling Patients' with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias --- Evidence of the Availability of Health Care Resources. Journal of Rural Health. First published: 02 July 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12465.
  12. Benjenk I*, Shields M, Chen J. Measures of Care Coordination at Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities and the Medicare 30-Day All-Cause Readmission Rate. Psychiatric Services. Published Online: 25 Aug 2020. 
  13. Barath D*, Amaize A*, Chen J. Racial and Ethnic Disparities of Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations among Patients with Depression – Evidence on Accountable Care Organizations and Care Coordination. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. April 2020.
  14. Benjenk I*, Franzini L, Chen J. Evidence of the Linkage between Hospital-based Care Coordination Strategies and Hospital Overall (Star) Ratings. Medical Care. 2020; 58(1):18-26.
  15. Park S, Chen J, Roby D, Ortega A. Differences in Health Care Expenditures Among Non-Latino Whites and Asian Subgroups Vary Along the Distribution of the Expenditures. Medical Care Research and Review. 2019;1077558719874212. doi:10.1177/1077558719874212.
  16. Barath D*, Chen J. Integrating Local Health Departments to Reduce Suicide-Related Emergency Department Visits Among People with Substance Use Disorders. Preventive Medicine. 2019 Dec;129:105825. 
  17. Novak P*, Chu J*, Ali M, Chen J. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Serious Psychological Distress among those with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 15. pii: S1064-7481(19)30473-7. 
  18. Anderson A*, Chen J. ACO Affiliated Hospitals Increase Implementation of Care Coordination Strategies. Medical Care. 2019;57(4):300-304.
  19. Benjenk I*, Chen J. Variation of Follow-Up Rate after Psychiatric Hospitalization by Hospital Characteristics and Social Determinants of Health. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2019; 27(2):138-148. 
  20. Novak P*, Bloodworth R*, Green K, Chen J. Local Health Department Activities to Reduce Emergency Department Visits for Substance Use Disorders. Journal for Healthcare Quality. 2019; 41(3): 134-145.
  21. Chen J, DuGoff E, Novak P*, Wang M. Variation of Hospital-Based Adoption of Care Coordination Services by Community-Level Social Determinants of Health. Health Care Management Review. 2018 Nov 27. 
  22. Novak P*, Anderson A*, Chen J. Changes in Health Insurance Coverage and Barriers to Health Care Access among Individuals with Serious Psychological Distress following the Affordable Care Act. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 2018; 45(6): 924-932.
  23. Chen J, Novak P*, Goldman H. Public Health System Delivered Mental Health Preventive Care Links to Significant Reduction of Health Care Costs.  Population Health Management. 2018; 21(6): 462-468.
  24. Chen J, Novak P*, Barath D*, Goldman H, Mortenson K. Local Health Departments' Promotion of Mental Health Care and Reductions in 30-Day All-Cause Readmission Rates in Maryland. Medical Care. 2018; 56(2):153-161.
  25. Chen J, Bloodworth R*, Novak P*, Cook B, Goldman H, Rendall M, Thomas S, and Reynolds C. Reducing Preventable Hospitalization and Disparity: Association with LHD Mental Health Promotion Activities. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2018; 54(1):103-112.
  26. Chen J, Vargas-Bustamante A, Novak P*. Reducing Young Adults’ Health Care Spending through the ACA Expansion of Dependent Coverage. Health Services Research. 2017; 52(5): 1835-1857.
  27. Chen J, Vargas-Bustamante A, Mortensen K, Ortega A. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Access and Utilization under the Affordable Care Act. Medical Care. 2016; 54(2):140-146.
  28. Chen J, Mullins D, Novak P*, Thomas S. Personalized Strategies to Activate and Empower Patients in Health Care and Reduce Health Disparities. Health Education & Behavior. 2016; 43(1): 25-34.