About

Michelle Hand

I am passionate about developing an understanding of a population’s health through healthcare claims data. I provide population health analysis through the validation and compilation of healthcare claims for internal and external stakeholders. I am experienced in presenting data and findings in a narrative format that is easy to understand and digest. I combine my formal training in journalism with my hands-on learning of healthcare systems and claims data in order to tell a simple story of the current state of a population’s health

I have Bachelor of Arts degrees in Journalism and Art, with a minor in English, obtained from the University of Iowa in 2013. I am actively pursuing an Associates in Applied Science degree in Business Analytics from Wake Tech Community College. My formal education allows me to report on the data I analyze as the storyteller of a journalist, the visualizer of an artist, and the technical skills of a programmer.

I am proficient in Power BI/Tableau/SQL/SAS/MS Excel/Python with varying degrees of expertise.

An avid outdoorswoman, I completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2015, over 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. My backpacking adventures have accumulated over 3,000 miles on foot, from the Great Smoky Mountains, the Vermont Long Trail, the Colorado Trail, to Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness and many other epic national and state parks.

I have spoken at several conferences all over the country to present my findings in population health data analysis projects.

When I’m not speaking or backpacking in varying locations throughout the country, I am at home with my dog and two cats, most likely knitting a blanket I have been crafting for months.