Linda Nguyen

Linda Nguyen’s work focuses primarily on Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) data analytics from various perspectives, including research, product management, and program improvement.

Since joining Mathematica in 2019, Nguyen has worked on a range of projects within Medicaid and CHIP. Currently, she is the research lead and product manager for DQ Atlas, a publicly available web-based tool that provides information to policymakers, analysts, researchers, and other stakeholders about the quality and usability of Medicaid and CHIP data. She also leads a project subtask that develops and monitors metrics on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment, service utilization, and other outcomes during and prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency period. In addition, she leads a project subtask that involves generating metrics on provider availability and beneficiary need to better evaluate and monitor access to care for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. Her past experience includes a quantitative study of children on Medicaid and CHIP who were prenatally exposed to substances or diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a mixed-methods analysis to identify areas of possible improvement in data reporting for the Money Follows the Person program, and qualitative analysis of public comments on a request for information related to Medicaid access.

Before coming to Mathematica, Nguyen conducted quantitative social determinants of health research, worked in a non-profit setting to connect members to public benefits, and helped improve quality management at a federally qualified health center. These professional experiences, as well as the personal experience of growing up in an immigrant household with family members on Medicaid, informed her on the challenges and benefits of obtaining Medicaid coverage and services from the beneficiary and provider perspectives. These experiences also heightened her awareness of the need for better data, which led her to research the Medicaid program with an interest in helping to understand and improve access to care and health equity. She holds a M.P.H. in sociomedical sciences with a certificate in health policy and practice from Columbia University.