Mark Prashker

Mark J. Prashker, MD, MPH, a national leader in health services research and health care policy, serves as associate dean for institutional development and planning and as an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine in 1992, and in the same year he was awarded a Career Development award from the Veteran Health Administration’s Health Services Research and Development Service. In 1995 he was appointed director of the Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research (CHQOER): a Veterans Administration Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence. The Center, which conducts health services research in four main areas: quality assessment, outcomes research, health economics and health services statistics, is the one of the largest centers of its kind with 26 full-time investigators and over 100 staff. In 1997, Dr. Prashker was named chair of the Department of Health Services at Boston University School of Public Health while continuing to direct the CHQOER. The health services department provides education, conducts research and delivers service concerning the organization, finance and delivery of health care. With the incorporation of the CHQOER, it is one of the largest health services departments in the country.  In 2001, Dr. Prashker became the president and chairman of the board of the Bedford VA Research Corporation (BRCI), a 501-C-3 not-for-profit corporation with a mission to enhance research for the nation’s health and to improve the nation’s health care delivery system. In February 2004, Dr. Prashker resigned as director of the Center to become associate dean for research at the BU School of Public Health. In June 2005, he was additionally named associate dean for institutional development. In order to concentrate on his dual associate dean roles, Dr. Prashker stepped down as chair of the Department of Health Services in September 2005. Dr. Prashker’s work centers on the economics of chronic diseases, decision analysis and the policy implications of health services research. Recent research includes: econometric modeling of the demand for out-patient rheumatology care, whether medication use for Alzheimer’s disease saves money due to fewer medically related admissions for other care, the need for formularies to take the total cost of medication use into account when making drug decisions, and the appropriate methodology for measuring changes in health care costs. Dr. Prashker teaches the introductory courses on the US health care system for the Health Services Department’s masters and doctoral students. He serves on numerous committees, both locally and nationally, that shape the direction of health services research and health care delivery. In addition to receiving a Veteran’s Administration Health Services Research and Development Career Development Award, Dr. Prashker is also the recipient of a National Health Policy Fellowship and the Physician Scientist Development award from the American College of Rheumatology. Dr. Prashker received his undergraduate degree in economics from Princeton University in 1983 and his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1987. His graduate medical education included a residency in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a fellowship in rheumatology at Boston University where he also received his MPH degree.