Erin Dorrien

Principal

Health Management Associates

Baltimore, MD

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A highly respected health policy expert, Erin Dorrien has over 15 years of experience in policy analysis, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and state budgeting. Leveraging her expertise in value-based programs (VBPs), global budgeting and the Maryland All-Payer Model, and behavioral health capacity, Erin works with state governments and other stakeholders to improve and safeguard access to care.

Before joining Health Management Associates, Erin was vice president of policy for the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). She led the hospital field’s capacity and workforce strategies and managed the policy team’s issue portfolio, covering behavioral health, Medicaid and private payers, new value-based care models, Certificate of Need and other system-related topics. In this role, she directed the association’s efforts to quantify the need for behavioral health services in the community, presenting findings to multiple state hospital associations, and managed efforts to measure the impact of youth experiencing hospital overstay in state care and educate external stakeholders on the issue’s statewide scope.

Supporting access to care, Erin’s professional focus includes expanding VBPs that focus on improving health equity, increasing access to behavioral health services, especially for children, and helping state and local governments improve processes to maximize assistance programs’ reach. She applies her stakeholder engagement and strategic planning skills to deliver demonstrated results.

For MHA, Erin spearheaded the association’s workforce committee, resulting in several legislative successes, and represented the association on the Stakeholder Innovation Group, establishing VBPs and episode-based models aligned with Maryland’s Total Cost of Care Model. As Maryland Health Care Commission’s chief of government and public affairs, she modernized cardiac intervention oversight, and developed multiple large-scale projects and convened stakeholder workgroups that delivered legislative and regulatory change on topics including rural healthcare delivery, physician self-referral, step therapy and palliative care.

Erin’s background as a budget analyst with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services bolsters her ability to understand complex problems, build consensus and develop actionable solutions. She advised legislators on fiscal and policy issues relating to various departments’ operations and capital budgets, including the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and the Maryland State Department of Education.

Erin earned her master’s degree in public affairs and policy, concentrating on healthcare policy, from the University at Albany. She has a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland.

After more than 15 years in the city, Erin considers herself a Baltimore native, where she lives with her husband, dog Edison and cat Cleo.