Sally Crelia, M.P.H., is a senior researcher at L&M. She has extensive experience in various methods of qualitative research, program assessment, social marketing, and communications.

Sally is currently leading a research project to assist the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in developing consumer friendly ways to report healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). In addition, she recently led a project for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) to conduct formative research to inform the development of consumer Web sites to publicly report HAIs. Sally also led a cognitive testing study for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine why Asians report better health-related quality of life — from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey — than other racial or ethnic groups. She has conducted research to help CMS explore variations in costs and quality around delivery of care for Medicare beneficiaries with complex health needs and the potential impact bundled payments have on patients in vulnerable populations with end-stage renal disease. Sally also conducted consumer research with Spanish-speaking beneficiaries to assist CMS in evaluating and improving the Spanish version of its Home Health Compare and Medicare Plan Finder Web tools. Prior to joining L&M, she managed numerous consumer research and health communications projects, such as a project for the CDC’s National Center for Health Marketing to conduct formative research and develop and test messages, materials, and tools around pandemic influenza.

Sally holds a M.P.H. from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and a B.A. in biology from Southern Methodist University. She is fluent in Spanish.

Lauren Blatt is a senior researcher at L&M. She has spent nearly a decade using qualitative and quantitative research methods and analyses to inform, evaluate, and improve health care programs and performance. Lauren is also experienced in developing materials and tools for a variety of target audiences and has conducted hundreds of key informant interviews, in-depth cognitive interviews, focus groups, and small group discussions with Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, health care providers, and other professionals.

She is currently working on projects for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to support CMS’s initiatives to publicly report health care quality information, develop marketing materials for Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans, and aggregate information about the available services and supports for people with autism spectrum disorders in each state. Prior to joining L&M, Lauren led a number of research efforts, including a project conducting ad hoc surveys for TRICARE Management Activity’s Health Program Analysis and Evaluation Directorate, for which she managed the coordination, administration, analysis, and reporting of up to seven simultaneous surveys. She also led quality assurance and compliance assessment projects for a national payer organization, assessing in-person and telephone adherence to Medicare and company-specific regulations.

Lauren holds a B.A., summa cum laude, in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Julia Doherty, M.H.S.A., is a senior research director at L&M. She has 25 years of experience in health care management, policy, and research and focuses on qualitative research in health care delivery. Julia has recruited and managed technical advisory panels to support projects in a variety of research areas, conducted hundreds of stakeholder interviews with representatives across health sectors, and advised stakeholders — including physicians, hospitals, insurers, patient advocates, manufacturers, and distributors — as they worked to improve health care quality and delivery throughout a fragmented health care system.

Julia is currently managing several projects for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), examining various aspects of quality and efficiency in care delivery. Specifically, she is exploring the potential impact bundled payments have on patients in vulnerable populations with end-stage renal disease. She is also leading the qualitative evaluation portion of a multi-state nursing home value-based purchasing demonstration. Julia recently completed an evaluation of an oncology demonstration designed to encourage improved cancer care and oncologists’ adherence to clinical guidelines. She also co-led an assessment of Native American Research Centers for Health Programs for the Indian Health Service. Prior to joining L&M, she worked with the state of Vermont’s Department of Public Health and Health Care Reform Commission on several projects involving medical homes and accountable care organizations. Julia’s experience includes executive posts in a health maintenance organization, major academic hospital, community health center, and management consulting firm.

Her work has been published in American and European journals on a variety of health care topics. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Primary Care Coalition in Maryland and is an honoree of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation annual national Community Services Award.

Julia holds a M.H.S.A. from The George Washington University and a B.S.W. in social policy and planning from George Mason University. She speaks Spanish and German fluently.

Ferhat Q. Kassamali, M.Sc., M.P.H., is a senior researcher at L&M. He joined L&M in March 2009 and has nearly a decade of health care consulting experience. Ferhat has expertise in financial analysis and modeling, strategic planning, business and operations process mapping, alignment, and improvement, prospective payment systems, and general health care policy and research.

He is currently working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on operations improvement and physician practice expense payments. Before joining L&M, Ferhat worked as a management consultant, advising hospitals on various financial, strategic, and operational matters, including strategic planning, ambulatory network development, cost-effectiveness, organizational alignment, and operational improvement. Prior to that, his consulting work focused primarily on health care finance, working with a range of clients on issues related to Medicaid financing, Medicare’s prospective payment systems (inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory surgery center, and long-term care hospital), hospital service-line development, and due diligence for mergers and acquisitions transactions.

Ferhat holds an M.P.H. in health management from the Yale School of Public Health in conjunction with the Yale School of Management as well as an M.Sc. in human genetics and B.Sc. in biology from McGill University.

Alyson Marano Ward, R.N., M.P.H., is a senior researcher at L&M. She has spent nearly a decade working on public health issues for the underserved, including rural pediatric and Medicare-eligible populations.

Alyson is presently leading a project for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to gather accurate and comprehensive information regarding available services and supports for people with autism spectrum disorders. Under subcontract to the Delmarva Foundation, she is leading another project that involves an annual external review of Medicaid managed care plans for the District of Columbia’s Department of Health Care Finance. In addition, Alyson is contributing to CMS-sponsored projects to support the agency’s efforts to publicly report health care quality information. Prior to joining L&M, Alyson worked as a research nurse for a comprehensive cardiovascular disease risk-reduction surveillance program, which aimed to lower the high prevalence of heart diseases and diabetes among children and their families in Appalachia. Ms. Ward also served as a senior consultant at BearingPoint working on projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Alyson holds an M.P.H. with a concentration in maternal and child health from the Boston University School of Public Health and a B.S. in nursing from Georgetown University.