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Dr. Michael Plotzke is a senior health economist with expertise in the area of Medicare payment policy, the organization of healthcare providers and quality measurement. His work typically involves the analysis of large datasets such as Medicare claims, assessment and enrollment data. Dr. Plotzke serves as principal investigator for multiple projects with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  On the “Home Health Prospective Payment System and Hospice: Analysis Support and Monitoring” project, Dr. Plotzke leads a team of researchers in analyzing trends in Medicare hospice and home health usage and constructing large-scale payment reform options for both benefits.  Dr. Plotzke also leads the “Evaluation of the Medicare Care Choices Model” project that evaluates a new payment model for end-of-life care that is being tested with 141 hospice providers.  This project involves analysis of existing administrative data and collection of new data through surveys of caregivers, surveys of hospice providers and in-depth case studies of hospice providers participating in the model.

Katharine Witgert is a health policy researcher with 20 years of public health and health care policy experience. Witgert manages research and analysis of health system innovations, conducting program evaluations for federal clients, including design, implementation, and reporting of findings. She provides technical assistance to state officials, primarily in the areas of Medicaid reforms and building Medicaid agency partnerships with public health, behavioral health, and social services programs.

Lisanne F. Brown has more than 20 years of experience in public health evaluation and research and a background in epidemiologic and program evaluation methods. She has worked on numerous evaluation and applied research studies for local, state and federal agencies. Her areas of expertise include maternal and child health, health care access, integration of primary care and behavioral health, community-centered health homes, social determinants of health, mixed methods evaluation design and implementation, survey design, and evaluation capacity building.

Nicole Keane, MSN, RN, CPHQ has an extensive clinical and research background in healthcare quality improvement, measure development, team-building and formative evaluation in post-acute and primary care settings. Her focus is providing technical assistance to healthcare systems and clinicians to drive quality improvement through learning and implementing the skills of measure development, implementation, benchmarking, analysis, and report writing.

Jodi Anthony, ScD, is a social epidemiologist with over two decades of mixed-methods evaluation, strategic consulting, and technical assistance experience focused on improving health for women, children, and families. Dr. Anthony brings expertise from her work with a variety of federal agencies, including Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Office of Population Affairs. She also has worked with health systems, foundations, city and state governments, universities, and community coalitions.

Anika Vartan has more than 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating public health and international development programs to improve access to—and quality of—health care, and increase community participation in social, economic, and political life. Vartan’s expertise is in mixed-methods and qualitative research, project management, health policy analysis, capacity building, adult education and technical assistance, organizational assessment and development, and community-driven development. She has supported the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Department of State (DOS) clients.

Catherine Hersey, a senior associate, is a seasoned health services researcher and project manager with over 15 years of experience in both Medicare and Medicaid. Her research areas include the implementation and evaluation of accountable care organizations and other alternative payment models, maternal health, substance use disorder, meaningful use of electronic health records, and hospital-acquired infections. Hersey also has experience in quality measurement and improvement. In addition, she has experience in both quantitative and qualitative analyses and managing large and complex projects.

Kelly Wagner has over 25 years of experience designing and delivering technical assistance, training, and capacity building. A skilled public health professional trained in epidemiology, she has developed and led more than 10 national TA programs for federal awardees from various agencies including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and offices within the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Wagner has worked with community-based organizations, health centers, academic institutions, and state/local health agencies, reaching target audiences with unique and diverse public health needs across the lifespan. 

Moira Forbes is a health policy leader with over 25 years of experience working with state and federal agencies on Medicaid and CHIP policy and operations. She focuses on providing time-sensitive, evidence-based analysis to support policymaking, operational planning, and program evaluation. She has worked with a wide range of health care stakeholders including providers, employers, public and private payers, foundations, trade associations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other health and human services agencies, state legislatures, and Congress. These diverse experiences help her provide well-informed insights for clients at all stages of the program lifecycle.