Timothy Lake

Timothy Lake's research interests include the organization of health care services, health care payment reforms, and the measurement of access to and quality of care.

His research covers a range of programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private sector insurance. His work often combines quantitative and qualitative methods, with a particular emphasis on synthesis of research for use in policymaking. Lake provides technical assistance, policy analysis, and research support to states and federal agencies in the design, development, and analysis of various payment and delivery system reforms, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs), pay for performance, and bundled payments. He recently led a task to develop a learning system for ACOs that are participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program as part of a project for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Over the course of his career, Lake has conducted numerous quantitative and qualitative studies on payment arrangements between payers and providers.

Lake’s other major interest is the development, testing, and use of health care quality and access measures. In prior work, he has advised the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Defense/TRICARE on development of performance measures and their uses in feedback reports, quality improvement efforts, and quality and access monitoring systems. Lake holds a Ph.D. in health services research from the School of Hygiene and Public Health, the Johns Hopkins University.