Title

Associate Research Professor

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Profile

Cindy Parks Thomas, Ph.D, is Associate Research Professor at the Brandeis University Schneider Institute for Health Policy, with a research and evaluation focus on state and national health reform, pharmacy policy and insurance benefit design. Dr. Thomas' current work includes analyses of drug utilization and spending trends, evaluations of the impact of state coverage programs, Medicaid pharmacy coverage, and access to emerging biopharmaceuticals, from the perspective of providers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Dr. Thomas is also currently engaged in assessment of electronic prescribing practices. In the area of behavioral health, her work includes adoption and impact of new treatments for substance abuse, monitoring the prescribing and use of controlled substances, and development of performance measures for medication assisted treatment of substance use disorders.

Dr. Thomas' additional published work in the area of ambulatory care and access to services includes a federally funded evaluation of access to, and quality of care, in freestanding ambulatory care centers, physician incentives for prescribing, and drug management practices in managed care organizations. Work in the area of prescription drug policy for low income and elderly populations includes pharmaceutical utilization and expenditure trends, analyses of prescription drug discount cards, the impact of newly introduced medications, savings from use of generic medications, plan design analyses, and other prescription drug issues, particularly in the Medicare and Medicaid population.

Dr. Thomas holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Brandeis University Heller Graduate School and a Master's Degree in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. She is a trained Physician's Assistant, in the past specializing in internal medicine, trauma and emergency care in both Kaiser Health Plan and rural private practice settings.