May Millennial of the Month: Lauren Peterson
MAP is amplifying the voices of the largest and most diverse generation: millennials. Join us as we share important issues that impact young Americans and highlight noteworthy millennial movers and shakers.
This month, we’re showcasing millennials in the digital field who work to digitize government, making it more accessible and effective. Lauren Peterson is a Product Manager at Nava Public Benefit Corporation (Nava PBC), currently working to modernize the appeals process for veterans. She’s held a number of healthcare related roles, from product management to consulting to scribing in the emergency department. Outside of work, she co-organizes a Meetup group inspired by the intersection of healthcare innovation and design thinking, Healthcare Experience Design | DC. Lauren sits down with us to share her work in healthcare, and how she and Nava PBC work to modernize government services.
Tell us a bit about yourself — how did you get your start in healthcare and what led you to Nava PBC?
As long as I can remember, I wanted to work in healthcare — I was fascinated by the human body and wanted to help people stay well. I started my career in a Medicaid Managed Care company and learned all about how government programs and the private sector provide healthcare. I experienced the implementation of the Affordable Care Act first hand, specifically the implementation of a health insurance plan for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. I learned about the technology involved in coordinating care across the two programs from a health insurance provider’s perspective and wanted to learn more about how healthcare and technology intersect. I moved to Washington, D.C. to work with large hospital systems on engaging physicians to analyze their healthcare data to improve performance and ultimately improve patient care. Many of their projects and priorities stemmed from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) programs centered around value-based care. I was inspired to join the product side, to ensure our product was built with our users at the center, so our clients could accomplish their missions.
All of us are going to be patients and caregivers at some point — it’s a humbling and real thought. I’ve learned first hand the healthcare system in the United States is extremely complex. After working in the insurance, hospital, technology, and consulting setting, I still have trouble navigating my way through. I was inspired by Nava PBC’s work on HealthCare.gov and feel extremely privileged to work with a company of mission-driven, intelligent, and diligent colleagues who are pushing for all government services, not only healthcare, to be better. I excitedly took the opportunity to work on a project with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to help modernize the appeals process that currently takes five years on average. The parallels between my experience with hospitals and government are many, and I so appreciate being able to grow my product management skills on a meaningful project that touches so many people.
Can you tell us more about Nava PBC’s work to make government services more effective and accessible to people?
Nava is a public benefit corporation committed to improving the way government serves people. Keyword: people. We know that many people depend on government services, from gaining access to health coverage to receiving Veterans benefits for serving, and we are inspired by the opportunity to help make them simpler, more effective, and accessible to all. We gravitate to the complex challenges public servants encounter each day and are privileged to give back in this way. We are a team of technologists, born out of the Healthcare.gov rescue effort. We’ve continued our work there, while expanding it to building the Submissions API as part of Medicare’s Quality Payment Program and modernizing the appeals process with the Department of Veterans Affairs. At the state level, we’ve started working to help state governments integrate their eligibility and enrollment systems to impact more people in need of those services. In total, our work impacts over 60 million people. Our focus is wholly on helping these people get the right outcomes — from quality medical care through Medicare to a timely appeals decision for a veteran.
What’s the current landscape for modernizing government services — any challenges, opportunities for improvement, etc.?
Both a challenge and an opportunity is the sheer amount of government services that could benefit from modernization. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that many integral government systems are many decades old, and “72 percent of federal chief information officers surveyed said the majority of applications in their portfolio are legacy systems.” I think this landscape presents an opportunity not to modernize just for modernization sake — to replicate legacy systems on more modern technologies — but to study and improve government services holistically.
We should start by mapping the user’s entire experience of the service — what is the veteran’s experience of the appeals process from end to end, what is a physician’s experience of submitting Medicare data from end to end? I’ve learned that rarely is an experience scoped to the experience of one system, one product. When tackling a government contract, we are designing and implementing more than that — we have to think through the design of the service. We can collaborate with our government partners, equip them with thorough research, and facilitate the design of user-centered policies that then translate into technology that supports it.
What has been your proudest moment professionally?
I feel extremely lucky to be part of the team modernizing the appeals process at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. We are about 30 people from the United States Digital Service and a team of contractors united by a mission to improve the appeals process for Veterans. I’m proud of the work done thus far, and that we are going to do, to replace the legacy system that process Veterans appeals. This process is extremely complex; any appeal can take any given twist and turn at Board of Veterans’ Appeals depending on a veteran’s circumstance and in order to thoroughly serve the veteran. Plus, a new appeals process established by legislation goes into effect next year, so there will be two appeals processes at one time.
The team and I started with a substantial, months-long research project, learning from public servants that process Veterans’ appeals themselves. It was incredible to work directly with people serving our Veterans on a day to day basis and think about what small ways we can make their lives easier. We documented appeals processes, synthesized our research, and prioritized high leverage problems to solve with our product, Caseflow. We’ve worked closely with Board stakeholders on a strategy that not only helps Board employees complete their appeals related tasks, but streamlines appeals processing in general to save time for veterans. Doing this thorough research up front has allowed us ship functionality to Board employees quickly (we launched and rolled out to 700+ attorneys within a few months), and because of our deep understanding of how the process currently works and how it could change over time, seamlessly. In most releases, we’ve introduced small improvements to how Board employees process appeals, that when added up, I anticipate will have a large impact on simplifying how they do their work.
What does bipartisanship mean to you?
Bipartisanship to me, means empathy, especially in today’s landscape. It means seeking to understand the many viewpoints around an issue and doing your homework to understand it fully, so you can make informed and less judgmental decisions. It takes effort and intention to research all sides of an issue, but it is necessary and important. Bipartisanship also means collaboration — multiple parties coming together in search of the best solution at the time.
Nava has the privilege to work on implementing two laws passed recently that were bipartisan in nature — Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 and the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. Further, we know our work lives beyond one particular administration. Medicare has lived in all types of administrations, and the work we do with it will likely continue regardless of who is in seat over the next decade. This important work does not fluctuate with the changing administrations — people need these services regardless of who’s in office.
How can people get involved in making government work better?
I think the first step in getting involved is to learn about what opportunities for doing this type of work are out there. There are excellent organizations cropping up centered around improving government services for people, ranging from federal government opportunities like the United States Digital Service and 18F, to companies like Nava (we’re hiring, by the way!). There are also groups that support civic technology at a local level, and I’d encourage people to look into Code for America and find their Brigade chapter to get involved at the local level.
Most interesting place you’ve traveled and coolest experience there?
I absolutely loved Death Valley National Park. The variety of sights, from salt flats to sand dunes and the spectrum of colorful rocks throughout the park were breathtaking. However, my coolest experience was my stay at the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, and the story behind it. In the 1960s, a ballerina decided to leave her New York City life to restore the old hotel, which also had a stage. She hand-painted murals of a renaissance audience, created her own set designs, and performed her own choreography each weekend night whether there was a live audience or not. By the time I visited, there was another ballerina carrying on her legacy, and the performance was incredible!
Favorite and/or most used phone app?
Spotify! I love how it supports collaborative playlists with other Spotify users. It’s great for sharing music among friends.
Lauren’s favorite playlists:
Favorite binge show + binge food combo?
I’ve been a sucker for Stranger Things recently — I can watch that show episode after episode while crushing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
