Our Leadership

Lauren Peters, JD

Executive Director, Center for Health Information and Analysis

Lauren Peters is the Executive Director of the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA). Among other things, she sets the agency’s vision and priorities and oversees strategic initiatives related to data governance, resource allocation, policy development, and stakeholder engagement.

Prior to joining CHIA, Lauren served as the Undersecretary for Health Policy at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS). In this role, she oversaw key programs and policies across several EOHHS agencies including the Department of Public Health, the Department of Mental Health, and MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. She also played an integral role in the state’s COVID-19 response, in the development of programs to support individuals experiencing homelessness and addiction, and in advancing strategic policy priorities including long-term care and behavioral health reforms.

Lauren previously served as Associate General Counsel and Director of Healthcare Policy at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, where she served as an advisor on health care finance, policy, and legal matters. Her state service also includes roles at the Health Policy Commission and the House of Representatives.

Lauren is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School, where she concentrated in health and biomedical law, and holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from William Smith College in New York.

Tonya Bourassa

Chief People Officer

Tonya Bourassa serves as Chief People Officer at CHIA, where she oversees the agency’s Human Resources and Office Operations departments. In this role, she leads strategic initiatives related to employee recruitment and development, diversity and inclusion, and compensation and benefits administration. Tonya also serves as CHIA’s Civil Rights Officer, Domestic Violence Coordinator, and ADA Coordinator, supporting the agency’s commitment to equity, safety, and accessibility.

Prior to joining CHIA, Tonya worked at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where she managed human resources and played a key role in establishing the agency’s people operations policies and procedures.

Tonya holds a bachelor of science from Central Michigan University and a certificate in human resources Management from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Mike Cocchi

Deputy Executive Director of Data Operations and Chief Data Officer

Mike Cocchi directs CHIA’s Data Operations and Technology unit, which encompasses data management and delivery, carrier and hospital intake, data user support, application development, data security, and IT infrastructure teams. Mike’s teams are responsible for collecting data from CHIA’s 500 disparate data submitters and building data products for CHIA’s customers.

Mike has held leadership positions at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Washington Mutual, where he led data management, business intelligence, and application development organizations. With expertise leading large teams, delivering complex technology programs, and spearheading data warehousing initiatives, Mike applies his technical knowledge to build information systems that disseminate CHIA’s wealth of health care data via secure, reliable, and accessible platforms.

Mike received his bachelor of science in computer systems engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Nick Dantzer

Chief Financial Officer

In his role as Chief Financial Officer at CHIA, Nick Dantzer leads the agency’s financial planning, budgeting, assessment, and accounts payable and receivable functions. He and his team support internal operations, manage procurement and contracting, and oversee CHIA’s annual assessment, working closely with external stakeholders, including payers and hospitals. Nick plays a key role in aligning the agency’s financial strategy with its broader analytic and policy goals, advancing operational efficiency and sustainability.

Prior to joining CHIA, Nick served as Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance at the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services, where he oversaw finance, data analytics, and other divisions supporting business modernization. In this role, he also led provider stabilization efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, Nick led a team at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, DC, providing strategic and technical assistance to states and counties to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and budgeting. Earlier in his career, he also held senior roles in Massachusetts state government, including Chief Financial Officer at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and various positions at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

Nick holds a master of public administration from Northeastern University in Boston and a bachelor of arts from Detroit’s Wayne State University.

Lani Harac

Director of Communications and Content Strategy

Lani Harac joined CHIA to manage the day-to-day work of the Communications and External Affairs team, which plays an integral role in the production and design of the 40-plus reports CHIA releases each calendar year. She ensures that the agency’s public-facing messaging and communications—including content shared via email, social media, and on the website—are aligned with its mission and with the needs of its various audiences and stakeholders. Before coming to CHIA, Lani worked for more than 20 years as a reporter, copy editor, editor, and director of content and marketing, among other roles.

Lani holds a bachelor of arts with honors in political science and a minor in international relations and linguistics from the University of Florida. She earned a master of arts from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she was a Park Fellow at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Kathy Hines

Senior Director of Partner Operations and Data Compliance

Kathy Hines has more than 40 years’ experience working with health care data for the state of Massachusetts. In that time, she has governed the data intake and validation of the hospital and MA APCD data sources using a unique Key Account Customer Service approach to ensure collaboration and promote quality, timely data submissions that meet the needs of stakeholders and reduce duplicative data submissions by the suppliers. She has been involved in all aspects of CHIA’s data release including extract development, quality assurance, data security, and managing the Data Quality and User Support teams.

Kathy’s current work as a Senior Health Care Data Advisor involves close cross-team collaboration to provide expertise and historical knowledge across CHIA within the Case Mix and APCD product lines. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Health Data Organizations.

Kathy has a bachelor of science in business administration with a focus on computer science from Suffolk University in Boston.

Andrew Jackmauh

Chief of Staff

As CHIA’s Chief of Staff, Andrew Jackmauh is responsible for working with the Executive Director and the rest of agency’s leadership team to define and meet CHIA’s strategic objectives. He oversees CHIA’s Communications and External Affairs and Finance departments, as well as carries out special projects and assists with ongoing agency operations. He has been at CHIA since its inception in 2012, previously serving as Director of Communications and External Affairs. Prior to joining CHIA, Andrew worked at the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, where he was involved in the passage of the Expanded Gaming Act and efforts to expand access to broadband internet throughout the state.

Andrew earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a master of public administration from UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies where he was a member of the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration.

Robert MacLean 

General Counsel

As CHIA’s General Counsel, Robert MacLean manages the agency’s legal department and its responsibilities over privacy, procurement, compliance, and other legal affairs. His team ensures that CHIA operates within its legal framework to effectively advance the agency’s mission.

Robert joined CHIA after 5 years at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ MassHealth program as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer. In that role, he led the agency’s Privacy Office safeguarding the privacy of approximately 2 million MassHealth members and other EOHHS clients. He ensured compliance with HIPAA and other privacy laws, supported the agency’s COVID-19 response, and collaborated with state and federal partners to advance key initiatives. Robert was also part of an interagency team that led reforms across the Secretariat to comply with the public records law of 2016. Earlier in his career, Robert worked in the Health Care Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office focusing on health care cost containment, price transparency, and community benefits. He was the project manager and co-author of the office’s 2015 monitoring report of the Steward Health Care System.

Robert holds a juris doctor from the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, a master of public health from Tufts University School of Medicine in Medford, and a bachelor of arts from Syracuse University in New York.

Steve McCabe

Deputy Executive Director of Provider Finance

Steve McCabe is CHIA’s Deputy Executive Director of Provider Finance and oversees the provider finance and pricing teams. Steve’s teams collaborate with both health care providers and other state agencies to collect and disseminate data concerning the cost, price, and functioning of the health care system in the Commonwealth. He is also responsible for the agency’s provider data collection, monitoring, and reporting, including hospital profiles and acute hospital financial reports, and he provides executive oversight of CHIA’s analytic services to support health care rate development for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ MassHealth program. Steve also serves as the agency’s Senior Advisor, which utilizes his broad subject matter expertise and historical knowledge as CHIA seeks to address strategic policy matters and while also ensuring that it continues to fulfill its core objectives and mission.

Steve previously directed CHIA’s Health Analytics and Finance unit, which produced a wide array of publications and products essential to helping the agency promote transparency and cost efficiency in the health care system. Steve also led the agency’s development and release of detailed analytic reports and data products including total health care expenditures, total medical expenses, relative price, and alternative payment methods.

Steve is a US Air Force veteran and a graduate of Suffolk University in Boston.

Caitlin Sullivan

Deputy Executive Director, Health Informatics & Reporting

As a Deputy Executive Director at CHIA, Caitlin Sullivan leads the Health Informatics and Reporting unit’s analytic work on health care expenditures, insurance coverage and costs, and quality. In this role, Caitlin oversees the data collection, analysis, and reporting on total health care expenditures, provider price variation, primary care and behavioral health spending, alternative payment method adoption, insurance coverage and premiums, and quality measurement as well as new initiatives on topics of emerging health policy and public health interest. In addition, Caitlin participates in several interagency and multi-state working groups to develop new analytic methodologies, align data strategies, and promote health equity, transparency, and collaboration among policymakers, providers, payers, community organizations, and the public.

Prior to joining CHIA in 2012, Caitlin supported research on oral health care disparities as a research associate at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine. Caitlin also served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, coordinating advocacy opportunities for women living with HIV/AIDS.

Caitlin holds a master of public health from the Boston University School of Public Health and a bachelor of arts from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

Zi Zhang 

Deputy Executive Director for Research

Zi Zhang is the Deputy Executive Director of Strategy and Research at CHIA, leading the unit’s analysis and reporting of health care coverage and affordability, readmissions and revisits, acute hospital utilization, and behavioral health. Zi also manages the agency’s statewide surveys, which provide detailed information about Massachusetts residents’ health care experiences, employer health care decisions, and health care workforce recruitment and retention. He plans to further expand the range of CHIA’s research products through emphasizing collaboration with other state agencies, hospital and provider representatives, external researchers, and other key stakeholders.

Prior to joining CHIA in 2013, Zi was Director of the Office of Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School where he oversaw a wide range of research and development functions. He spent a little over a year with the Neighborhood Health Plan evaluating health insurance products from the landmark 2006 health care reform legislation in Massachusetts. Zi also served more than 13 years at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health where he focused on research concerning health status, risk behaviors, and the prevalence of health-related conditions.

Zi holds a master of public health in biostatistics and epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a medical degree in preventive medicine from Shanghai Medical University in China.