Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

Who: Hareesh Mavoori, director of data policy and evaluation at the Kansas Health Policy Authority

Bio: Mavoori, 36, oversees three departments at the health policy authority: Policy Research, Data Management, and Fiscal Analysis & Institutional Reimbursement.

“I find it a very interesting combination of departments in terms of function,” he said.

His responsibilities include supervising the data analytic interface, an integrated data management and analytics tool for Medicaid and non-Medicaid data, and the data consortium, a public advisory group working to advance means to control the state’s health data for health reform. He supervises 28 people.

Born and raised in India, Mavoori attended the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, where he earned a Bachelor of Technology in Materials Engineering in 1993 before moving to the United States.

“The Institute I went to had an American collaboration,” he said. “I came and had no culture shock at all. The embassies there have a good orientation program.”

Mavoori then began a doctorate program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he said he belonged to an honors program that allowed him to accelerate his education.

“If you meet certain requirements after the first year, you could skip your masters and go for a Ph.D. directly,” he said.

He earned his Ph.D in Material Science and Engineering, with minors in Artificial Intelligence and Mechanics, in 1996. Mavoori then moved to New Jersey, where he worked as a scientist in the applied materials and devices department at Bell Laboratories.

While in New Jersey, Mavoori married his wife Beatrice. They later moved to Hawaii, where he earned his masters in business administration and information systems at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. While in Hawaii, Beatrice gave birth to their daughter, who is now two years old.

Mavoori also worked at the Center for Health Outcomes at Hawaii Pacific Health, a multi-hospital system. He said this was when he first gained interest and experience in working with hospitals.

In August 2007, after accepting the position at the health policy authority, Mavoori and his family moved to Topeka.

“I read about KHPA and what they were trying to do at the state level and at the hospital level, tracking policy impact,” he said.

Mavoori has 34 patents related to new materials and devices, mostly electric and optical equipment.

Interconnects: Mavoori is a member of the National Association of Health Data Organizations and has attended a National Association of State Medicaid Directors conference.

Contact: Telephone: 785-296-8001

Address: 900 SW Jackson St., Suite 900, Topeka, KS 66612

E-mail: hareesh.mavoori@khpa.ks.gov