Jodi Pekkala is an experienced researcher in healthcare quality measurement and improvement with more than 15 years dedicated to analysis, evaluation, quality improvement, and practice transformation.
With a background in quality measurement and improvement, Jodi has developed, deployed and evaluated projects related to performance improvement for both health plans and providers of care. She has developed and deployed complete quality programs for health plans and She developed quality strategy with a focus on the integration of performance improvement goals and value-based care initiatives. She has a strong background in quality metrics and data analysis to support this work.
She has extensive experience developing and deploying curricula for group learning collaboratives as well as individualized practice facilitation, including didactic and interactive learning curricula, baseline readiness assessments and progress tracking systems, coaching workflows and trainings, and templates and tools to manage the facilitation process, including agenda and progress note templates.
During her career, she has provided practice coaching to Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and primary care practices of all sizes including solo providers, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and large, hospital-based practices on topics related to telemedicine, access to care, care management, referrals and care coordination, and quality improvement. Jodi has also worked extensively with health care providers and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to expand their capacity to measure, track and improve care provided. She has developed trainings and resources to comprehensively support the basics of quality measurement, improvement and evaluation for health center and CBO staff to prepare them for measuring care, communicating and demonstrating value to managed care organizations, and participating in value-based payment arrangements.
Her work spans a variety of population-specific projects including services to adults, children, aged, blind and disabled, and persons with chronic conditions. This work has included research and evaluation projects focused on both qualitative and quantitative methodology.
As a Patient-Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert™ (PCMH CCE™) she helped primary care practices navigate the various stages of transformation and quality improvement via individualized onsite technical assistance as well as coordinating group virtual and in-person learning events.
Previously, she also served at an external quality review organization (EQRO) where she reviewed the design and implementation of quality improvement initiatives for Medicaid and managed care programs. She was also a certified Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) compliance auditor (CHCA), annually auditing and certifying health plans’ HEDIS submissions to allow their submission to NCQA and/or State Medicaid programs. She possesses in-depth knowledge of HEDIS data collection, measurement, and the reporting processes.
Ms. Pekkala earned her master’s degree in public health at Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude as a Bachelor of Science from Ithaca College. She is a Patient-Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert™ (PCMH CCE™).