Mark Schlesinger

Mark Schlesinger, Ph.D. is a professor of health policy and director of undergraduate studies at the School of Public Health and a fellow of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. Mark collaborates with Rachel on a qualitative evaluation of the Center’s patient advocacy services and with Rachel and Sarah on other health policy projects. He has worked with a variety of health advocacy initiatives and has for the past decade been on the board of directors at Community Catalyst, a nonprofit organization devoted to developing the capacity of consumer advocates to influence state-level health policymaking.

Mark is co-editor (with Rachel) of Patients as Policy Actors (Rutgers University Press, 2011), past editor of the Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law, and author of multiple articles including:

• Rosenthal M, M Schlesinger. Not afraid to blame: The neglected role of blame attribution in medical consumerism and some implications for health policy. Milbank Quarterly 2002; 80(1): 41-95.
• Schlesinger M, S Mitchell, B Elbel. Voices unheard: Barriers to the expression of dissatisfaction with health plans Milbank Quarterly 2002; 80(4): 709-755.
• B Elbel, M Schlesinger, A neglected aspect of medical consumerism: responsive consumers in markets for health plans Milbank Quarterly 2009; 87(3): 633-82.
• M. Schlesinger. Choice cuts: parsing policymakers’ pursuit of patient empowerment from an individual perspective Journal of Health Economics, Policy and Law 2010; 5(3): 365-87.

Mark’s scholarship centers on peoples’ decision-making processes in complicated circumstances, such as evaluating medical experiences, choosing among health care providers, or assessing the legitimacy of health and social policies. He has consulted to a half dozen federal agencies and more than a dozen state governments on issues ranging from informed consumer decision-making in medical settings to maintaining the viability of the nonprofit sector in American health care.