Joan DaVanzo

Joan E. DaVanzo, Ph.D., M.S.W., is chief executive officer of Dobson | DaVanzo, a woman-owned health economics consulting firm. Dr. DaVanzo leads several projects for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including an evaluation of the Medicare IVIG Demonstration. Prior to cofounding the firm, Dr. DaVanzo served as vice president at the Lewin Group for nearly a decade, where she specialized in Medicare policy analysis and aging. Her work focused on health service utilization among Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare provider payment methodology. Prior experience also includes work at the RAND Corporation on an evaluation of the CHAMPUS program and at the University of California, Los Angeles, on a Medicare demonstration project to determine the cost-effectiveness of providing preventive health care to Medicare beneficiaries. Dr. DaVanzo earned an M.S.W. from New York University, and her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a Pew Health Policy Program fellow.