Katie Acker, M.P.H. | 2024 Emerging Leaders in HealthCare

Katie Acker, M.P.H.

I grew up in a military family and lived in eight different places, including in the U.S. and Europe, by the time I graduated from high school. Experiencing new environments, meeting new people, learning and adapting to different lifestyles and cultures every few years has no doubt shaped who I am today.

I earned my B.S. from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and an internship at the Pan American Health Organization quickly changed my career interests from medicine to public health. I later earned my M.P.H. from the University of Washington. Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer was a valuable experience and led me to focus my career on gaining knowledge and experience addressing upstream causes of poor health and inequities.

I came to Fallon Health in 2018, eager to learn more about the payer role in healthcare and to find ways to leverage my unique experiences to positively impact the organization’s members and communities it serves. I quickly saw how dedicated the organization is to addressing barriers to healthcare access and how much further upstream the payer is in impacting health outcomes of the very communities I had been working with.

Please describe a turning point in your career — an event, a eureka moment, an encounter or a salient point of advice from someone.

I had a professor in grad school start their lecture by saying, “Congratulations on pursuing a degree where the goal of your entire career will be to put yourself out of a career.” The statement has stuck with me for over 10 years. And I have found myself asking the question, “Is the goal of this job to put myself out of work?” with each opportunity I pursue. With equity work, I don’t just want to improve the health of disadvantaged populations; I want there to be no disadvantaged populations — a much greater motivation to continue to push the boundaries.

What are your top two priorities as a leader in your organization and healthcare?

One of my priorities as a leader at Fallon Health is to continue to build and strengthen the organization’s confidence and capacity to acknowledge, identify and address inequities by embedding equity into our routine responsibilities. Additionally, over the past two years, I have been leading our organization’s efforts to collect, store and report on more complete, accurate and comprehensive data of both our membership and our provider network. Nearly everything we do to understand inequities and make positive change is dependent on data.

If you change one thing about U.S. healthcare,what would it be?

I would love to change the accessibility and cost of education for healthcare-related fields. Although there are many challenges in the healthcare industry, two that stand out when speaking to our members and communities are that there are not enough doctors (medical staff in general) and there is a severe lack of diversity in healthcare. We would not solve these problems with free education and training, but that would make a substantial impact on both.

Name a book or article that everyone working in healthcare should read and why.

With young children, my book recommendations are two of my daughter’s favorites: “No! My First Book of Protest” by Julie Merberg and “Antiracist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi.I also recommend the podcast “More Perfect” by WNYC Studios. It offers an invaluable look at the power of laws and policies and how easily they can build or break trust among communities.

How do you strike the right work-life balance?

Having two young children provides a welcome chaos while giving me perspective and purpose. With my family’s support, I am able to passionately pursue my work with their future in the forefront of my mind. And at the end of the day, they bring me great comfort as I “turn off” my professional role and transition back to “parent and spouse.” Having an amazing wife who works in the craft beer industry doesn’t hurt, either.

If you could have dinner wiht anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

One of my favorite quotes comes from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who said, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” The quote is also permanently a part of me as a favorite and probably my most publicly admired tattoo. I have been to a number of talks and shows where I was listening to him from the nosebleed seats.Having a meal with him would have me giddy. I admire the way he can take complicated topics and make them exciting, engaging and logical to
any audience.