Deepshikha Ashana | Scholars@Duke

Deepshikha Ashana
Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dr. Deepshikha Ashana's research focuses on understanding and addressing mechanisms of differences in serious illness care among underserved patients. She uses mixed methods to study epidemiologic trends in national health claims data and understand patient perspectives on serious illness care, with a particular focus on modifiable clinician and health system factors.

She received her undergraduate, medical, and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, before moving to Los Angeles to complete her internal medicine residency at the University of California, Los Angeles. She subsequently worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company where she gained experience in health system operations and change management. While completing a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, she received formal training in research methods through the Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology program.

She is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. She cares for patients in the Duke University Hospital medical intensive care unit and at Duke Health Center at Southpoint.

Dr. Ashana lives in Raleigh with her husband and son where they enjoy cooking, hiking, and watching international films.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Medicine 2021
Assistant Professor in Department of Population Health Sciences, Population Health Sciences, Basic Science Departments 2022
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke - Margolis Center For Health Policy, Initiatives 2022

Contact Information

115 Hanes House, 315 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710
Box 102352, Durham, NC 27710
deepshikha.ashana@duke.edu (919) 660-0929

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Fellowship, Pulmonary And Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania 2016 - 2019
- M.S., University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine 2019
- Residency, Internal Medicine, University of California - Los Angeles 2012 - 2015
- M.B.A., University of Pennsylvania 2012
- M.D., University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine 2012
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Medicine 2020
Expertise
Subject Headings
Research
Selected Grants
- Racial disparities in shared decision making for patients with acute respiratory failure awarded by National Institutes of Health 2022 - 2027
- Racial Disparities in Emotion-Handling in the ICU awarded by American Thoracic Society 2022 - 2023
- Traumatic Life Events Among Family Members of ICU Patients awarded by National Palliative Care Research Center 2021 - 2022
- Trauma, conflict, and racial disparities in the intensive care unit awarded by American Thoracic Society 2020 - 2022
Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants
- Fellowship in Health Equality awarded by American Thoracic Society 2020 - 2021
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - You, HyunBin, Jessica E. Ma, Marie C. Haverfield, Tolu O. Oyesanya, Sharron L. Docherty, Kimberly S. Johnson, Christopher E. Cox, and Deepshikha Charan Ashana. “Racial Differences in Physicians' Shared Decision-Making Behaviors during Intensive Care Unit Family Meetings.” Ann Am Thorac Soc 20, no. 5 (May 2023): 759–62. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202212-997RL.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Jessie Gu, Deepshikha Charan Ashana, Elias H. Pratt, Krista Haines, Jessica Ma, Maren K. Olsen, et al. “Trajectories of Palliative Care Needs in the ICU and Long-Term Psychological Distress Symptoms.” Crit Care Med 51, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000005701.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Adina Jan, Alice Parish, Kimberly S. Johnson, Karen E. Steinhauser, Maren K. Olsen, and Christopher E. Cox. “Interpersonal Perception: Family- and Physician-reported Conflict in the Intensive Care Unit.” Ann Am Thorac Soc 19, no. 11 (November 2022): 1937–42. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202202-147RL.
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  - MacDonald, Andrea, Hayley B. Gershengorn, and Deepshikha Charan Ashana. “The Challenge of Emergency Abortion Care Following the Dobbs Ruling.” Jama 328, no. 17 (November 1, 2022): 1691–92. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.17197.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Maren K. Olsen, Alice Parish, Jessie Gu, Deepshikha Charan Ashana, Elias H. Pratt, Krista Haines, et al. “Palliative care phenotypes among critically ill patients and family members: intensive care unit prospective cohort study.” Bmj Support Palliat Care, September 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2022-003622.
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  - Gazarian, Priscilla, Avni Gupta, Amanda Reich, Stephen Perez, Robert Semco, Holly Prigerson, Deepshikha Ashana, et al. “Educational Resources and Self-Management Support to Engage Patients in Advance Care Planning: An Interpretation of Current Practice in the US.” Am J Hosp Palliat Care 39, no. 8 (August 2022): 934–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/10499091211064834.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Deepshikha Charan Ashana, Nita Khandelwal, Arif H. Kamal, and Ruth A. Engelberg. “Improving Outcomes Measurement in Palliative Care: The Lasting Impact of Randy Curtis and his Collaborators.” J Pain Symptom Manage 63, no. 6 (June 2022): e579–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.03.012.
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  - Reich, Amanda J., Stephen Perez, Priscilla Gazarian, Noah D’Arcangelo, Kristina Gonzales, Phillip Rodgers, Deepshikha C. Ashana, Joel S. Weissman, and Keren Ladin. “Is This ACP? A Focus Group Study of Patient Experiences of Advance Care Planning.” J Gen Intern Med 37, no. 6 (May 2022): 1484–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-07208-3.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Noah D’Arcangelo, Priscilla K. Gazarian, Avni Gupta, Stephen Perez, Amanda J. Reich, Jennifer Tjia, Scott D. Halpern, Joel S. Weissman, and Keren Ladin. “"Don't Talk to Them About Goals of Care": Understanding Disparities in Advance Care Planning.” J Gerontol a Biol Sci Med Sci 77, no. 2 (February 3, 2022): 339–46. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab091.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Deepshikha Charan Ashana, Krista L. Haines, David Casarett, Maren K. Olsen, Alice Parish, Yasmin Ali O’Keefe, et al. “Assessment of Clinical Palliative Care Trigger Status vs Actual Needs Among Critically Ill Patients and Their Family Members.” Jama Netw Open 5, no. 1 (January 4, 2022): e2144093. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.44093.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Vincent K. Chan, Sitaram Vangala, and Douglas S. Bell. “The Impact of Resident Holdover Admissions on Length of Hospital Stay and Risk of Transfer to an Intensive Care Unit.” Journal of Patient Safety 17, no. 8 (December 2021): e1855–59. https://doi.org/10.1097/pts.0000000000000662.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, George L. Anesi, Vincent X. Liu, Gabriel J. Escobar, Christopher Chesley, Nwamaka D. Eneanya, Gary E. Weissman, William Dwight Miller, Michael O. Harhay, and Scott D. Halpern. “Equitably Allocating Resources during Crises: Racial Differences in Mortality Prediction Models.” Am J Respir Crit Care Med 204, no. 2 (July 15, 2021): 178–86. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202012-4383OC.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, and Christopher E. Cox. “Providing Family-Centered Intensive Care Unit Care Without Family Presence-Human Connection in the Time of COVID-19.” Jama Netw Open 4, no. 6 (June 1, 2021): e2113452. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13452.
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  - Miller, William Dwight, Xuan Han, Monica E. Peek, Deepshikha Charan Ashana, and William F. Parker. “Accuracy of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score for In-Hospital Mortality by Race and Relevance to Crisis Standards of Care.” Jama Netw Open 4, no. 6 (June 1, 2021): e2113891. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13891.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Isaretta L. Riley, Deepshikha C. Ashana, Krista Haines, Maren K. Olsen, Jessie Gu, Elias H. Pratt, et al. “Improving racial disparities in unmet palliative care needs among intensive care unit family members with a needs-targeted app intervention: The ICUconnect randomized clinical trial.” Contemp Clin Trials 103 (April 2021): 106319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2021.106319.
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  - Cox, Christopher E., Maren K. Olsen, David Casarett, Krista Haines, Mashael Al-Hegelan, Raquel R. Bartz, Jason N. Katz, et al. “Operationalizing needs-focused palliative care for older adults in intensive care units: Design of and rationale for the PCplanner randomized clinical trial.” Contemp Clin Trials 98 (November 2020): 106163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2020.106163.
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  - Gupta, Avni, Ginger Jin, Amanda Reich, Holly G. Prigerson, Keren Ladin, Dae Kim, Deepshikha Charan Ashana, Zara Cooper, Scott D. Halpern, and Joel S. Weissman. “Association of Billed Advance Care Planning with End-of-Life Care Intensity for 2017 Medicare Decedents.” J Am Geriatr Soc 68, no. 9 (September 2020): 1947–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16683.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Chrystal Lewis, and Joanna Lee Hart. “Dealing with "Difficult" Patients and Families: Making a Case for Trauma-informed Care in the Intensive Care Unit.” Ann Am Thorac Soc 17, no. 5 (May 2020): 541–44. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201909-700IP.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha C., Scott D. Halpern, Craig A. Umscheid, Meeta P. Kerlin, and Michael O. Harhay. “Use of Advance Care Planning Billing Codes in a Retrospective Cohort of Privately Insured Patients.” J Gen Intern Med 34, no. 11 (November 2019): 2307–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05132-1.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha C., Scott D. Halpern, Craig A. Umscheid, Meeta Prasad Kerlin, and Michael O. Harhay. “Clinician Use of Advance Care Planning Billing Codes among Privately Insured Patients in 2016.” J Palliat Med 22, no. 11 (November 2019): 1304–5. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2019.0285.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Craig A. Umscheid, Alisa J. Stephens-Shields, Rachel Kohn, Vanessa Madden, Michael O. Harhay, Yong Chen, and Meeta Prasad Kerlin. “Determining the Association Between End-of-Life Care Resources and Patient Outcomes in Pennsylvania ICUs.” Crit Care Med 47, no. 11 (November 2019): 1591–98. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000003969.
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  - Ashana, Deepshikha Charan, Xiaoxue Chen, Abiy Agiro, Gayathri Sridhar, Ann Nguyen, John Barron, Kevin Haynes, et al. “Advance Care Planning Claims and Health Care Utilization Among Seriously Ill Patients Near the End of Life.” Jama Netw Open 2, no. 11 (November 1, 2019): e1914471. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14471.
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Education, Training, & Certifications

Previous Appointments & Affiliations

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles