Marcela Horvitz-Lennon

Photo of Marcela Horvitz-Lennon
Senior Physician Policy Researcher; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Boston Office

Education

M.D. in medicine with intern, Pontifical Catholic University; M.P.H. in public health, Johns Hopkins University

Overview

Marcela Horvitz-Lennon is a senior physician scientist at the RAND Corporation and a core faculty member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She is also an associate professor of psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychiatrist at Cambridge Health Alliance. Previously, she was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and the Chilean Ministry of Health. Her research focuses on the quality and value of healthcare received by adults with serious mental illnesses, a population with high disease burden and significant social disadvantage. Much of her work has been public sector-related because of the significance of public payers for this population. Horvitz-Lennon has conducted research on racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in care; Medicaid and federal healthcare policy; utilization patterns and safety of antipsychotic drugs; underuse and overuse of mental health interventions; integration of physical and mental healthcare; diffusion of mental health innovations; and global mental health. She has served and continues to serve as principal investigator or co-investigator on NIH (NIMH/NIMHD) and other federally-funded research. Through her clinical position, Horvitz-Lennon is actively involved in medical student education and resident training. She has also mentored pre-doctoral students and served as member/director of Ph.D. dissertation committees. Horvitz-Lennon earned her M.D. in Santiago, Chile, and a Masters degree in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She completed her psychiatric residency training at the University of Maryland Medical School, and a fellowship in Community Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Research Focus

Concurrent Non-RAND Positions

Associate Professor (part-Time), Harvard Medical School

Recent Projects

  • Medicaid Value Based Payment Models and Healthcare Equity for Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses
  • Independent Evaluation of the New York State Health and Recovery Plans Program and Self-Directed Care
  • Improving Minority Health by Monitoring Medicaid Quality, Disparities and Value
  • Improving the Value of Publicly Funded Mental Health Care
  • An In-Depth Investigation of Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Schizophrenia Care

Selected Publications

Horvitz-Lennon, M., Predmore, Z., Orr, P., Hanson, M., Hillestad, R., Durkin, M., El Khoury, A.C. and Mattke, S, "The predicted long-term benefits of ensuring timely treatment and medication adherence in early schizophrenia.," Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 2019

Spertus J, Horvitz-Lennon M, Normand SLT. , "Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Multiple Continuous Treatments with individual participant-level data: An application to antipsychotic drugs. ," Medical Decision Making , 39(5), 2019

Horvitz-Lennon, M. "Evidence-Based Practices or Practice-Based Evidence: What Is The Future? ," in Goldman H, Frank R, and Morrissey J, editors. , The Palgrave Handbook of American Mental Health Policy., Palgrave Macmillan, 2020

Gopalan K, Horvitz-Lennon M, Stein BD, Ghinassi F, Castle N, Chang J, Donohue JT., "Is mental illness a risk factor for hospital readmission? ," Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research , 45(6), 2018

Horvitz-Lennon M, Mattke S, Predmore Z, Howes OD., "The role of antipsychotic plasma levels in the treatment of schizophrenia. ," American Journal of Psychiatry , 174(5), 2017

Languages

Spanish

Publications