Michelle Dougherty

Michelle Dougherty is an expert in health informatics, health IT, and related policy areas with leadership experience throughout the health care standards community. She has extensive experience in the use of health information and technology to support the care delivery process, emerging payment models, quality measurement, and data standards. Her expertise is sought after in helping inform and shape public policy including testimony and appointments on health care policy-shaping groups.

Much of her work focuses on health informatics in long-term care, post-acute care and home-and community-based services for an aging population. Ms. Dougherty convened and facilitated the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) Health Information Technology (IT) Collaborative, a public-private partnership. Its mission is to accelerate the use of technology tools to support person-centered care across the continuum through thought leadership, coordinated activities, and an annual summit.

Currently, Ms. Dougherty leads is an associate project director for the CMMI Innovation models for primary care, known as Primary Care First and Comprehensive Primary Care Plus. In addition, she serves as project director for ASPE studies on use of health IT and interoperability in behavioral health and LTPAC.  Michelle’s subject matter and technical expertise supports projects with ONC on the Recognized Coordinating Entity for TEFCA, AHRQ’s electronic care plan project to pilot test a SMART on FHIR application, and on the CMS ACO Reach project and transition to electronic clinical quality measures.

Ms. Dougherty joined RTI in 2015. Previously, she was Senior Director of Research and Development with the AHIMA Foundation, advancing strategy in the areas of workforce development, evidence-based health information research, and health care policy in the United States and globally. She has also served as Director of Practice Leadership with the American Health Information Management Association, leading industry- and profession-shaping initiatives that advanced health information issues, particularly in health IT, legal EHR requirements, and LTPAC/LTSS. She convened public and private stakeholders to shape national health IT policies for LTPAC and co-chaired a HL7 standards workgroup to develop EHR standards.

In 2008, Ms. Dougherty received a special recognition from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging for exemplary federal research to advance the well-being of older Americans. She is a member of Health Level Seven (HL7) and organizational lead for RTI, the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). Her notable publications include - Social determinants of health data standards: The building blocks for communication, interaction, and sharing social and behavioral data in value-based care, Advancing health information technology roadmaps in long term care, Building consensus toward a national nursing home information technology maturity model, and EHR payment incentives for providers ineligible for payment incentives and other funding.