Gretchen Williams Torres is a vice president at NORC with over 20 years of experience leading innovative mixed-methods research to evaluate health care programs and policies. She leads multidisciplinary teams in designing and implementing creative, rigorous research that blends qualitative and quantitative data to uncover the mechanisms through which outcomes are achieved. Gretchen’s portfolio is focused on health care organizations, payment models, and delivery systems in which she combines advanced statistical analyses with qualitative insights to explain impact and inform program decisions.

At NORC, Gretchen has guided high-impact evaluations for major federal initiatives. As the lead for mixed-methods analysis on the CMS Innovation Center’s ACO REACH evaluation, she provides insights into Medicare’s efforts to better align payment with outcomes, transform care delivery, and improve access for underserved populations. She has also served as the associate project director for the Next Generation ACO evaluation, leading comparative case analyses to identify organizational and market characteristics and implementation approaches associated with cost and quality outcomes.

Gretchen has led teams in providing actionable technical assistance to states navigating complex policy and system changes in CMS’ State Innovation Models initiative. She directed policy analysis for the Physician-focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services). Additionally, Gretchen has studied initiatives focused on the role of health systems in addressing social health, including safety net capacity expansion (Health Forward Foundation), injury and violence prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and affordable housing (American Hospital Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Her research is published in technical reports, technical assistance resources, and peer-reviewed journals and has been presented to diverse audiences, including policymakers, researchers, health system leaders, and other interest holders.

In addition to her project leadership, Gretchen provides strategic direction for NORC’s health care evaluation portfolio, overseeing research execution and contributing to organizational growth.

Before joining NORC, Gretchen was a Merck fellow in health economics at the University of Chicago. She was also research director at the American Hospital Association’s Health Research and Educational Trust, where she led a research and technical assistance portfolio focused on hospitals and their role in public health improvement.