About CHRT

Melissa Riba is director of research and evaluation at CHRT. She has more than 20 years of experience conducting applied research to inform policy and program improvements, including program evaluation and survey research.

Currently, Riba manages CHRT’s portfolio of evaluation and survey research projects, which includes two statewide surveys: Cover Michigan, a consumer survey conducted since 2009 and the Michigan Physician Survey, conducted since 2012. Riba has expertise in conducting capacity and needs assessments, environmental scans, cost effectiveness analyses, and resource stewardship and appropriateness of health care delivery studies. She also works in partnership with health service researchers to implement and evaluate interventions to improve health care practice and sustainability.

Riba’s evaluation portfolio includes multi-site and multi-partner projects, including a behavioral health integration project with the State of Michigan funded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and a cost effectiveness evaluation of a pediatric integrated intervention with Starfish Family Services and two health systems in Southeast Michigan funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. She is expert in managing and facilitating large collaborative projects.

Prior to her role at CHRT, Riba served as a senior consultant for evaluation and survey research in the Health and Human Services Policy Division of Public Sector Consultants, Inc. In this role, she designed and conducted research to evaluate federal and state-funded programs related to expanding access to care for the uninsured, children’s mental health services, special education programs, and substance abuse treatment services among the Medicaid population in mid-and southern Michigan.

Riba holds a master’s degree in sociology with an emphasis on medical sociology and research methods from Michigan State University.