Rachel is a principal research scientist with over 15 years of experience as a health care researcher, specializing in qualitative research methods. At NORC, she leads qualitative data collection and analysis efforts for numerous large-scale national evaluations of payment and delivery system reform models for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). She also provides policy research and program support for various HHS agencies.

Her portfolio for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) includes the evaluations of the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model and the Vermont All-Payer ACO Model. Since 2014, Rachel has supported the CMS Office of Minority Health in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating programs to improve health care quality for populations facing health disparities. For over 10 years, Rachel provided support to CMS through several contracts for the management of public reporting of hospital quality measures on Hospital Compare and the alignment of quality and public reporting programs and Compare websites.

Prior to joining NORC, Rachel worked at the Center for Home Care Policy and Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, where she focused on quality improvement in home health care, particularly related to the role of home health aides. Rachel has also worked at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where she was involved in the development of the National Healthcare Quality Report.