Research and Measurement Associate in Washington, District of Columbia at URAC

MAJOR PURPOSE OF THIS JOB: Under the direction of the Director of Research & Measurement, the Research & Measurement Associate will support the maintenance, development and management of URAC’s performance measures. This role is responsible for executing the annual measurement tasks including data validation, aggregate report development, and recognition program. The role also assists with research projects and produces reports, whitepapers and/or posters of research as needed.

Job duties and responsibilities:

• Collect, clean, and aggregate annual performance data to present performance reports and summaries of key findings.
• Assist with ensuring the validity, consistency, and comparability of the validation program across organizations, auditors, and plans.
• Ensure the accuracy of client rankings for publication on URAC website.
• Assist in deriving meaningful quantitative analyses from piloted measures to demonstrate their reliability and validity.
• Ensure data integrity, measure validity, and methodological rigor through collaboration with analytics, data governance, and subject matter experts
• Translate performance data into clear, actionable insights for diverse stakeholders, including executives and frontline teams
• Facilitate governance processes, including measure review, approval, and retirement
• Continuously evaluate and improve measurement processes to reduce burden and increase impact
• Responding to client inquiries with regard to measure specifications, clarification and implementation;
• Revise measure reporting instructions, templates, and other measurement documents or tools as required.
• Produce annual aggregate reports, client performance reports, benchmarking/performance rankings, snapshot/infographics
• Assist in the development, testing and implementation of process/system improvements as required.
• Other duties as assigned.

Research

• Conduct environmental scans and literature reviews to support performance measures and/or research activities.
• Participate in research and data analysis projects, ensuring that all related project activities including project plans are completed on time, within scope and budget, and in compliance with established processes, performance expectations, and objectives.
• Design and conduct unique research into health care related topics and trends.
• Present research findings at meetings and conferences as required.

Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders

• Disseminate information about URAC's measures and measurement program through participation on internal committees and external workgroups—via lectures, webinars and other venues.
• Produce educational materials on performance measurement, patient experience, and other topics of interest to URAC, its clients, and consumers, in coordination with marketing when applicable.
• Serve as a resource for staff and measure advisory groups by performing various research and analysis activities, including content-related queries; recommending potential advisory group members; designing and conducting literature reviews; and preparing other measurement-related or research-related materials to support the presentation, delivery, and reporting of performance measurement data/information or research topics.
• Communicate report trends to other Quality, Research & Measurement Department staff and internal stakeholders;
• Collaborate with URAC staff to address clients’ measurement questions, needs, and satisfaction with data collection processes.
• Manage timelines, dependencies, and risks across multiple quality initiatives and workstreams.

Physical requirements:

• Sedentary work in the URAC Main office (or remote)
• Minimal travel to not exceed more than 10%
• Moving moderately weighted objects from one position to another; and, working primarily with fingers and the whole hand or arm, as in handling, typing, etc.; ability to receive, process, and understand guidelines through spoken language.

The physical demands and work environment that have been described is representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Experience, knowledge, and skill requirements:

• Experience participating in project teams.
• Demonstrated experience in research, analysis, interpretation and reporting using health care data sets.
• Proven understanding of and experience working with health care data and research including: claims, financial, enrollment, pharmacy, laboratory and immunization data.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to generate original correspondence and reports and convey ideas clearly and effectively.
• Strong organizational and time management skills with demonstrated flexibility and the ability to manage multiple tasks and issues of varying complexity, while managing priorities and meeting deadlines.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills, a professional presence, and the ability to interact competently and courteously with a variety of people, both internal and external to URAC.
• Excellent attention to detail, accuracy, and follow-up.
• Technical proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office (i.e., Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel).

Education and training requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in a health-related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in healthcare operations, quality management or performance measurement, research, or related business environments.
• Strong understanding of quality measurement principles, methodologies, and data standards
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present data-driven insights clearly
• Ability to work under minimal supervision and execute complex projects

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in healthcare quality measurement (e.g., HEDIS, CMS, NCQA, or similar frameworks)
• Experience working with datasets and performance dashboards
• Familiarity with outcomes-based measurement approaches