ROBERT WEECH-MALDONADO, MBA, Ph.D.

Pilot Investigator

Pilot Studies
1. "The relationship between Hispanic ethnicity and language and patient assessments of Medicare managed care." (2003-2004)
2. "Racial/ethnic differences in nursing-home rehabilitation care for Medicare post-acute residents (formerly “Racial/ethnic differences in rehabilitation treatment and outcomes among veteran elders with stroke)." (2005-2006)

Address
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
1675 University Boulevard
520 Webb
Birmingham, AL 35294-3361

Phone
(205) 996-5838

Fax
(205) 975-6608

Email
rweech@uab.edu

Biography
Dr. Weech-Maldonado completed his MBA at the University of Puerto Rico and his PhD at Temple University. After completing his doctoral studies, he joined the faculty of Penn State University as an Assistant Professor in 1998, then became Associate Professor at the University of Florida.  Cureently he is Professor & L.R. Jordan Endowed Chair at the Univeristy of Alabama at Birmingham. His research examines the impact of organizational and market factors on access, quality, and costs of care for vulnerable populations, particularly the elderly and racial/ethnic minorities.  He is a member of RAND’s Consumer Assessments of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS II) research team, where he is analyzing racial/ethnic differences in patient experiences with care, evaluating the cultural adaptation of the CAHPS surveys and reports of care, and developing a survey instrument on Patient Assessments of Cultural Competency (PACC).  Under a contract with DHHS Office of Minority Health, he worked with RAND colleagues to develop a cultural competency assessment tool for hospitals (CCATH).  He was recently funded by the Commonwealth Fund to examine the relationship between hospitals’ cultural competency activities and diverse patient experiences. 

Dr. Weech-Maldonado also studies quality and cost issues in long-term care.  He had a contract with USF/Administration on Aging to examine the relationship of quality and financial performance of Florida nursing homes.  In addition, he was co-investigator in a VA-funded project examining quality of care for veterans in community nursing homes funded by the VA per-diem program.