Carla Willis

Dr. Carla Willis is a faculty member in the Department of Public Health Education at Morehouse School of Medicine and 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 several value-based purchasing programs for Medicaid members receiving managed care, while also working to define technical specifications for measures included in the state’s 2021 Quality Strategy. Willis serves as a senior advisor on multiple committees, including the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Technical Measurement Advisory Panel and the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She was a member of the 2021-2022 Emerging Leaders Program funded by the Milbank Memorial Fund and has publications in Contraception and Maternal and Child Health Journal. Much of her interests involve using health policy and payment levers to reduce 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.