Carla Willis is a principal research associate at the Urban Institute. Willis previously served as the director of performance, quality, and outcomes within the Georgia Medicaid program, overseeing multi-disciplinary teams focused on predictive analytics, quality measurement, and performance improvement.

Most recently, Willis designed two value-based purchasing programs for Medicaid members receiving managed care, while also working to define and operationalize improvement for the state’s 2021 Quality Strategy.

Willis serves on multiple committees, including the National Committee for Quality Assurance Technical Measurement Advisory Panel and the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She is a member of the 2021-2022 Emerging Leaders Program funded by the Milbank Memorial Fund. She has recent publications in Contraception and Maternal and Child Health Journal. Much of her interests involve using health policy levers to improve maternal and child health outcomes and reducing the rate of maternal mortality, particularly for women of color in Medicaid programs.

Prior to joining Georgia Medicaid, Willis was an associate project director at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) where she led both the Medicaid Policy and Business Team and GHPC’s Health Reform Work Group. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Office of the Associate Director for Policy and Strategy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and worked as a health policy analyst at the Government Accountability Office.