Health Economist Mark Smith is a Vice President at CATHEXIS and a Stanford Health Policy Adjunct Affiliate. From 2001-2011 he was an economist at VA Palo Alto. At Truven Health Analytics (2012-2016) and IBM Watson Health (2016-2020) he led projects in quality measurement and reporting and provided technical assistance to state Medicaid agencies.
His research focuses primarily on quality measurement, mental health and substance abuse, and economic analyses. He led a team that collaborated with Stanford Health Policy and others to develop health care quality indicators based on emergency department services. International projects have included implementation of health care quality measurement in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and determining predictors of sustainability in water-quality improvement projects in Nicaragua. He earned a B.A. at Oberlin College and M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees at Yale University, all in economics.
Dr. Chowdhury is a vascular surgeon and pioneering public health leader from Bangladesh who wrote "The Politics of Essential Drugs: The Makings of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh." In 1971, Dr. Chowdhury left England to return to what was then East Pakistan and join the war of liberation for Bangladesh. He helped establish a field hospital for freedom fighters and refugees, which lead to the development Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) or "The People's Health Center." GK has trained more than 7,000 barefoot doctors, and serves 1,000 villages in 14 Bangladeshi districts. A pharmaceutical factory was established by GK in 1981 which produces medicines on the World Health Organization's essential medicines list; employs 1,500 people and has an $11 million annual budget. One-half of its profits are reinvested and the other half go to GK's other projects. In 1985, Dr. Chowdhury and GK were awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award (sometimes called the Asian Nobel Peace Prize) and in 1992, the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel Prize). Dr. Chowdhury was instrumental in convincing the Bangladesh government to adopt a National Drug Policy in 1982. This controversial policy promotes essential medicines and discourages the use of drugs with little therapeutic value. GK hosted the People's Health Assembly in December 2000, which challenged global health organizations to improve public health care for the poor. Dr. Chowdhury is this year's International Honoree of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Heroes.
Philippines Conference Room
The Technology Change in Health Care (TECH) international research collaboration is studying the variations in myocardial infarction incidence, treatment utilization and outcomes in vulnerable populations, namely women and the elderly. This study builds on previous work of the collaboration to compile extensive databases containing longitudinal data from patient discharge records from the participating countries.
Encina Commons, Room 201
615 Crothers Way Stanford, CA 94305-6006
Executive Assistant: Soomin Li, soominli@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-9911
Douglas K. Owens is the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor, Chair of the Department of Health Policy in the Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Health Policy (CHP) in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). He is a general internist, a Professor of Management Science and Engineering (by courtesy), at Stanford University; and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Owens' research includes the application of decision theory to clinical and health policy problems; clinical decision making; methods for developing clinical guidelines; decision support; comparative effectiveness; modeling substance use and infectious diseases; cardiovascular disease; patient-centered decision making; assessing the value of health care services, including cost-effectiveness analysis; quality of care; and evidence synthesis.
Owens chaired the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians for four years. The guideline committee develops clinical guidelines that are used widely and are published regularly in the Annals of Internal Medicine. He was a member and then Vice-Chair and Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which develops national guidelines on preventive care, including guidelines for screening for breast, colorectal, prostate, and lung cancer. He has helped lead the development of more than 50 national guidelines on treatment and prevention. He also was a member of the Second Panel on Cost Effectiveness in Health and Medicine, which developed guidelines for the conduct of cost-effectiveness analyses.
Owens also directed the Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center. He co-directs the Stanford Health Services Research Program, and previously directed the VA Physician Fellowship in Health Services Research, and the VA Postdoctoral Informatics Fellowship Program.
Owens received a BS and an MS from Stanford University, and an MD from the University of California-San Francisco. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in health research and policy at Stanford. Owens is a past-President of the Society for Medical Decision Making. He received the VA Undersecretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research, and the Eisenberg Award for Leadership in Medical Decision Making from the Society for Medical Decision Making. Owens also received a MERIT award from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse to study HIV, HCV, and the opioid epidemic. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP.)
Professor Campbell will discuss Japan's new public, mandatory, long-term care insurance program: does it make sense as social policy? As economic policy? Professor Creighton has long been interested in the relationship between politics and substantive public policy, and in the way policies change upon implementation. He has pursued this interest mostly in the context of the Japanese political system, and in this talk he will apply his framework to Japan's foray into socialized care for the elderly.
Okimoto Conference Room, Third Floor, East Wing, Encina Hall
Korea achieved national health insurance coverage for the entire population in 1989, thirteen years after Korea adopted a national health insurance policy. Its success drew a lot of attention from other countries, including the US. This talk will explain the secrets of its success and also critique the pitfall of its national health insurance system. However, more recently, Korea has faced challenges from most parts of its health care system. The national health insurance corporation has been showing financial deficits. Also, the health care delivery sector has experienced a series of political battles among professional groups: physician vs. pharmacist, and oriental medical doctors vs. pharmacists. The seminar will analyze the reasons for these challenges, and discuss the direction for Korea's health care reforms. Those who have interests in the Korean national health insurance systems, please refer to Gerard Anderson (1989) "Universal Health Care Coverage in Korea." Health Affairs, Summer ,24-35. Miron Stano (1990) "Comparing US and Korean Health Care." Health Affairs, Summer, 237-238. Those who have interests in the political battles among professional groups, please refer to Hoy-Je Cho, (2000) "Traditional Medicine, Professional Monopoly and Structural Interests: a Korean Case." Social Science & Medicine, Vol 50, Issue 1, 123-135. These articles can be downloaded from the Stanford e-journal lists. This program is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP before noon on Wednesday, Novermber 28 to Okky Choi. Tel: (650) 724-8271 or Email: okkychoi@stanford.edu
Encina Hall, Central Wing, third floor, Philippines Conference Room
HRP Redwood Building, Room T138B (First Floor)<p>
Bechtel Conference Center
Bechtel Conference Center