Meet the Metrics Team

Metrics Unit staff — Pictured left to right are Valerie Stewart, Frank Wu, Kristin Tehrani, Sara Kleinschmit, Austin Phillips, Kate Lonborg, Jen Davis, and Deepti Shinde.

Valerie Stewart, Ph.D.
Metrics and Evaluation Manager
Valerie is a social scientist by training and has held numerous positions in both measurement and research roles. Before coming to OHA, she worked on medical outcomes and informatics for a large, private health care corporation in knowledge integration across five states. She is also a trained management facilitator, teaching physicians and managers about leadership skills for work groups. Valerie enjoys gardening in her spare time and taking vacations to her childhood island home on Maui.

Jen Davis, MBA
Policy Analyst
Jen manages the CCO Metrics Dashboard and serves as contract administrator for several Health Analytics projects, including the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey. Jen is passionate about simplifying and streamlining complex processes to provide clarity and visibility for OHA staff and external partners. Prior to joining OHA, Jen led strategic planning for an international medical device company and earned an MBA from the University of Oregon. Jen is the mother of three daughters, ages five and under, and therefore has no spare time.

Sara Kleinschmit, MS
Policy Advisor
Sara has international experience in health and well-being policy development and social science research, managing the research team at the British Transport Police and later working as a researcher and policy advisor for social services in London, England. Before returning to her native Oregon in 2011, Sara was the deputy director of research for New York City’s Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP programs, where she led projects aimed at improving outcomes for low income New Yorkers. She enjoys analysis and public policy development, having coordinated and collaborated with community partners in strategic planning and local policy analyses throughout her career. At the Oregon Health Authority, Sara works closely with Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) and other stakeholders to develop quality metrics to ensure CCOs are improving care, making quality care accessible, eliminating health disparities, and controlling costs for the populations they serve. She holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kate Lonborg, JD, MA, BS
CQMR Program Manager
As part of the metrics team, Kate works on EHR-based measures for the CCO quality incentive measures program. She also works in OHA’s Office of Health IT (OHIT) implementation team for the Clinical Quality Metrics Registry (CQMR). Kate has been in this role since 2016. Before that, she worked for a consulting firm on health IT policy, for a health system as meaningful use program manager, and for OHIT as a lead policy analyst. Kate has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Puget Sound, a Master of Arts in English from Northwestern, and a JD from Lewis & Clark. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, cooking, and practicing tai chi.

Please note that we monitor the metrics.questions@state.or.us email address daily and this is often the best way to ensure inquiries are directed to the appropriate staff.

Austin Phillips, MPH
Project Coordinator, Behavioral Health Metrics
Austin leads the reporting of Behavioral Health services for Health Analytics. Additionally, he handles the analysis and reporting of the CAHPS survey metrics. Prior to joining OHA, he worked in the health plan sector, performing data analytics to support quality improvement initiatives. He holds a master’s degree in public health from Oregon Health & Sciences University and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration from Willamette University. To manage stress and improve his own mental health, he enjoys distance running, traveling, and espresso.

Deepti Shinde, MPP
Evaluation and Policy Advisor
Deepti manages the evaluation of Oregon’s Medicaid waiver including developing research questions and evaluation plans. She also works on special projects for Health Analytics like the Children’s Health Complexity project. Before OHA, Deepti worked at Kaiser Permanente as an Improvement Advisor for both the Northwest and Southern California regions. Deepti holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Southern California.

Kristin Tehrani, MPH
Policy Analyst
Kristin joined the metrics team in June 2017. Her primary role is providing staff support to policy committees such as the Health Plan Quality Metrics Committee. Previously she worked in public health departments in California and Oregon and managed a variety of health education/health promotion programs. She has a master’s degree in public health and prefers dark chocolate to milk chocolate.

Frank (Wei-Ting) Wu, MPA
Research Analyst
Frank holds a master’s degree in public administration from University of Oregon and started participating in Oregon's health systems transformation as an analyst in 2010, with expertise in administrative data analyses for quality metrics, cost, utilization, and health disparities. Since joining OHA in 2014, he has supported the CCO Quality Metrics program in leading metrics production and new metrics development; and facilitating communication with interagency partners and external stakeholders. Frank is a cycling enthusiast when he is not thinking about health care and data.