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NORC at the University Chicago

Karen Swietek

Principal Health Economist
Health Care Evaluation
Applied Health Economics Program Area
Karen is a health economist and health services researcher with extensive experience designing and leading mixed-methods evaluations for state and federal clients.

Specializing in Medicaid payment and delivery reform, care transformation, health disparities, and behavioral health and substance use disorder programs, Karen’s research aims to drive impactful improvements in healthcare systems. She helps clients design rigorous evaluations to assess whether their programs achieve desired outcomes, producing relevant findings to guide future healthcare policy and practice.

At NORC, Karen leads research teams for state clients including California, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont, designing and managing CMS-approved evaluations for Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstrations. Additionally, she contributes her expertise in quantitative methods to large-scale evaluations for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), including the Vermont All-Payer ACO and ACO REACH Model evaluations.

Karen’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including The American Journal of Managed Care, Health Services Research, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Project Contributions

Evaluation of the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network

Evaluation of multi-racial/ethnic and multi-sectoral network addressing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on priority populations

Client:

DHHS Office of Minority Health

Evaluating Rhode Island’s Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration

Evaluation of programs implemented under Rhode Island’s Medicaid section 1115 demonstration

Client:

Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Documentation of Social Need in 2018 Medicaid Data

Analysis of Medicaid T-MSIS data to understand how well recipients’ social needs are documented

Funder:

NORC at the University of Chicago

Evaluation of the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model

Evaluating Vermont’s efforts to improve health outcomes and reduce health care spending

Client:

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Evaluation of the ACO REACH Model

Evaluating the ACO REACH model that is transitioning Medicare from fee-for-service to value-based care

Client:

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Vermont Global Commitment to Health Demonstration Evaluation

Understanding the impact of Vermont’s Global Commitment to Health Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver

Client:

Agency of Human Services, State of Vermont

Publications

Research Library & Findings