Lauren Testa M.P.H.

Lauren is an experienced and highly effective health policy consultant who has worked with a diverse range of clients – including, investors and lenders, federal and local government, not-for-profits, health systems, and research institutions – to implement, assess, and advance federal policy and local health care programs. Over more than a decade of client service and now as the lead of Impact Health’s provider portfolio, Lauren has developed a reputation as a trusted advisor who delivers high-quality work and helps her clients accomplish ambitious goals.

Prior to joining Impact Health, Lauren was an Assistant Vice President at Farragut Square Group, where she provided strategic health care policy research, advisory diligence, and long-term outlooks on federal and state health care matters to investors and financial institutions. In this role, she regularly analyzed Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, as well as regulatory and legislative risk for a wide variety of organizations, including physician group practices, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, hospice providers, laboratories, and pharmaceuticals.

Lauren also has federal health care policy consulting experience with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), primarily working with the agency’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). On behalf of CMMI, Lauren helped implement and monitor innovative health care delivery and payment systems including those supported by the Health Care Innovation Awards and the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative. Through her work she developed a deep understanding of the challenges providers face in successfully executing value-based care initiatives and identified opportunities for shared learning among CMMI demonstration participants.

Earlier in her career, Lauren independently consulted for the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Medical Center, and Health Resources in Action, where she focused on local public health issues. Lauren was also a Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While with the NIH, she used fMRI imaging, genetics, and behavioral data to better understand the neurological underpinnings of schizophrenia and help identify potential drug targets.

Lauren holds a B.S. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and a M.P.H. with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Boston University. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, son, cat, and dog.