Mark W. Smith

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.