Valerie Lewis, Ph.D.

Valerie Lewis, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Her research focuses on health care payment and delivery reform, health care organizations, and disparities.

Dr. Lewis received her Ph.D. and Masters in Sociology from Princeton University. Prior to joining the Dartmouth faculty, Dr. Lewis was a Legatum Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Some of her most recent publications have appeared in Health Affairs; Health Services Research; Journal of the American Medical Association; Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law; Health Care Management Review; American Journal of Managed Care; and Circulation.

In Dr. Lewis’s HCFO-funded grant, she and her colleagues are assessing the characteristics that drive quality and cost performance in accountable care organizations (ACOs). The researchers are using the National Survey of Accountable Care Organizations (NSACO), geographic data on ACO locations, and publicly released performance data in a cross-sectional analysis to assess how organizational capabilities and market characteristics are associated with ACO performance. ACOs are a centerpiece of federal payment and delivery system reform efforts established in Medicare through the Affordable Care Act, but first-year performance and early evidence showed considerable variation across participating providers, with some achieving substantial savings and others achieving no savings. The goal of the study is to inform policymakers and providers of the ACO characteristics and capabilities associated with achieving savings and delivering high-quality care. Additional information about Dr. Lewis’s HCFO-funded work is available here. More detail about her research and a list of selected publications can be found here.