Rani Hoff, MPH, PhD

Rani Hoff received both her MPH in chronic disease epidemiology and her PhD in mental health services research and psychiatric epidemiology from Yale University School of Public Health. Dr. Hoff serves as Director of the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC), responsible for national program evaluation of mental health services in the Department of Veterans Affairs nationally. NEPEC is located within the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in the Department of Veterans Affairs and also oversees several national clinical and quality improvement initiatives in VA, including the Psychotropic Drug Safety Initiative and the Measurement Based Care Initiative. She is also the Director of the Evaluation Division of the National Center for PTSD.At the national level, Dr. Hoff advises senior leadership within the VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and other areas of VA Central Office regarding VA performance with respect to mental health services and programming. As Director of NEPEC she directly or indirectly oversees program evaluation for acute inpatient and residential treatment programs, vocational services for Veterans with serious mental illness, intensive community mental health care and day programs, specialized PTSD services, team-based care in outpatient settings, community-based interventions for suicide prevention, tele-mental health services for suicide prevention and services provided to women Veterans. As part of evaluation, she is responsible for overseeing the collection and analyses of data, construction of performance monitoring and performance measures, data-based decision making tools for leadership at all levels of VA and partnering with QI experts to identify and improve mental health services at all VA facilities. She has also served on several advisory committees to the VA on the mental health needs of female veterans, with particular attention to military sexual trauma. She also co-chairs the Behavioral Health Council for the VA transition to the Cerner electronic medical record, a group that ensures that the medical record is built and functions well for VA mental health providers and programs.

Some of her recent work has focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. As a member of the OMHSP DEI Steering Committee (DEISC) she contributes to the extensive efforts of the Office in the DEI space. She also co-chairs the Data and Disparities sub-committee of the DEISC, which focuses on the development of guidance, tools and data identifying disparities in access to, and utilization of, mental health services; consultation for local facilities charged with identifying disparities and addressing them; and providing support for programs needing to meet the January 2023 Joint Commission guidelines on social determinants of health and health disparities.

Dr. Hoff’s research utilizes principles of psychiatric epidemiology, services research, quality improvement, program evaluation research, and implementation science to examine risk factors and correlates of psychiatric disorders and suicide behaviors, with particular attention paid to co-occurring disorders and vulnerable populations; mental health service provision in both VA and non-VA settings, including the contribution of community and background environmental factors in the quality of care and clinical outcomes; and the epidemiology of behavioral addictions. This research has included studies on pathological gambling, schizophrenia, substance abuse/dependence, the risk of suicide in psychiatric patients, trauma and comorbidity, criminal justice mental health, and the mental health problems experienced by the homeless and by returning Veterans from the Middle East. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Survey of the Experiences of Returning Veterans (SERV) a large VA-funded study of the gender differences in coping behaviors of Veterans returning from military service; the Veterans Outcomes Assessment, an annual nationally representative sample of 15,000 VA mental health patients with clinical outcomes measures after the first three months of treatment; and the Veteran Satisfaction Survey, an annual sample of 20,000 of those receiving VA mental health services that assesses access to care and perceived quality of services.