Shalini Parekh

Shalini Parekh is a Director and Senior Research Economist at RTI International with nearly 20 years of experience in health policy analysis and research. Her work focuses on prescription drug policy, Medicare claims analysis, and the economic modeling of health care reforms. Her work is centered on a rigorous approach to data analytics and a deep understanding of Medicare policy.

Ms. Parekh currently serves as an Associate Project Director for the Data Analytics and Program Support (DAPS) project for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). For this project, she oversees the team responsible for providing analytic and operational support to CMS in the implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program, which was enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Before joining RTI, Ms. Parekh held leadership roles at Avalere Health, the Lewin Group, and Acumen LLC. At Avalere, she directed analytic projects for pharmaceutical clients and health plans, evaluating the financial impact of IRA provisions such as Part D benefit redesign and the Medicare drug price negotiation program. At the Lewin Group, she led the quantitative evaluation of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), assessing practice transformation effects on cost and quality. At Acumen LLC, she directed multiple CMS projects supporting Medicare Part D operations, including payment reconciliation, claims validation, analytic support, and plan performance measurement and reporting.