@article{nataraj_ivy_payton_norman_2018, title={Diabetes and the hospitalized patient: A cluster analytic framework for characterizing the role of sex, race and comorbidity from 2006 to 2011}, volume={21}, ISSN={["1572-9389"]}, DOI={10.1007/s10729-017-9408-4}, abstractNote={In the US, one in four adults has two or more chronic conditions; this population accounts for two thirds of healthcare spending. Comorbidity, the presence of multiple simultaneous health conditions in an individual, is increasing in prevalence and has been shown to impact patient outcomes negatively. Comorbidities associated with diabetes are correlated with increased incidence of preventable hospitalizations, longer lengths of stay (LOS), and higher costs. This study focuses on sex and race disparities in outcomes for hospitalized adult patients with and without diabetes. The objective is to characterize the impact of comorbidity burden, measured as the Charlson Weighted Index of Comorbidities (WIC), on outcomes including LOS, total charges, and disposition (specifically, probability of routine discharge home). Data from the National Inpatient Sample (2006-2011) were used to build a cluster-analytic framework which integrates cluster analysis with multivariate and logistic regression methods, for several goals: (i) to evaluate impact of these covariates on outcomes; (ii) to identify the most important comorbidities in the hospitalized population; and (iii) to create a simplified WIC score. Results showed that, although hospitalized women had better outcomes than men, the impact of diabetes was worse for women. Also, non-White patients had longer lengths of stay and higher total charges. Furthermore, the simplified WIC performed equivalently in the generalized linear models predicting standardized total charges and LOS, suggesting that this new score can sufficiently capture the important variability in the data. Our findings underscore the need to evaluate the differential impact of diabetes on physiology and treatment in women and in minorities.}, number={4}, journal={HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT SCIENCE}, author={Nataraj, Nisha and Ivy, Julie Simmons and Payton, Fay Cobb and Norman, Joseph}, year={2018}, month={Dec}, pages={534–553} }
 @inproceedings{goodarzi_mckenzie_nataraj_ivy_mayorga_mason_tejada_2016, title={A Framework for modeling the complex interaction between breast cancer and diabetes}, DOI={10.1109/wsc.2014.7019981}, abstractNote={In 2010, over 200,000 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and an estimated 17% of those women died from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also in 2010, the CDC reported that 12.6 million women had diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Recent medical literature provides conflicting evidence regarding a link between insulin resistance and breast cancer risk. Although models have characterized these prevalent diseases individually, little research has been conducted regarding the interaction between breast cancer and diabetes. We build a simulation model framework that explores this complex relationship, with an initial goal of assessing the prognosis for women diagnosed with diabetes considering their breast cancer risk. Using data from national survey and surveillance consortium studies, we estimate morbidity and mortality. This framework could be extended to study other diseases that interact with breast cancer.}, booktitle={2016 10th european conference on antennas and propagation (eucap)}, author={Goodarzi, S. H. and McKenzie, K. and Nataraj, N. and Ivy, J. S. and Mayorga, Maria and Mason, J. and Tejada, J.}, year={2016}, pages={1245–1256} }
 @article{hewitt_nowak_nataraj_2016, title={Planning Strategies for Home Health Care Delivery}, volume={33}, ISSN={["1793-7019"]}, DOI={10.1142/s021759591650041x}, abstractNote={ In home health care (our motivating application), consistency is representative of the general health care principle of continuity of care, which is often correlated with quality of care. Much of the existing research involving consistency in routing uses planning horizons that are a week or shorter. Yet in many settings the relationship between an organization and its customers lasts much longer. Hence, this paper looks at how one should plan when seeking consistency in routes extends the impact of caregiver-patient assignments. Specifically, the paper examines appropriate planning horizon length and, with an extensive computational study, demonstrates that a long planning horizon can have significant potential for savings in terms of transportation costs and staffing levels. Initially, a deterministic setting is considered, with all patient requests during the planning horizon known a priori, and the routing cost of planning for two to three months is compared with the cost when planning is done on a weekly basis. With uncertainty inherent in planning for such a long time horizon, a methodology is presented that anticipates future patient requests that are unknown at the time of planning. Computational evidence shows that its use is superior to planning on a weekly, rolling horizon basis. }, number={5}, journal={ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH}, author={Hewitt, Mike and Nowak, Maciek and Nataraj, Nisha}, year={2016}, month={Oct} }
 @inproceedings{nataraj_2016, title={The role of comorbidity: A framework for personalizing interventions for patients with sepsis}, booktitle={2016 winter simulation conference (wsc)}, author={Nataraj, N.}, year={2016}, pages={3660–3661} }