Mukesh Ray

Mukesh Ray is a senior economist in AIR's Health Division with over 10 years of experience implementing and studying health and development policies, with a particular focus on Medicaid. He has led projects that involve advanced econometric methods, data sciences, experimental and quasi-experimental program evaluations, statistical modeling, and programming. Dr. Ray has led large teams in conducting advanced statistical analyses using extensive datasets, including those from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS), Medicare Fee-For-Service, and commercial sources. His expertise in data science includes working with complex claims datasets and utilizing platforms like Databricks and AWS, along with programming in Stata, Python, SAS, and SQL.

At AIR, Dr. Ray's contributions include impact evaluations and technical assistance for clients such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). As a subject matter expert for the DataConnect project with the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), he led a team of analysts in generating several reliable research products using TMSIS data. His research has covered program integrity, evaluation of demonstrations, and machine learning models, focusing on topics such as enrollment, maternal health, prescription drugs, and chronic conditions. This work has resulted in sophisticated data products for CMCS stakeholders.

Dr. Ray has also played key roles in several other significant projects. In the ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC) Model project for CMS, he led the participant management team to ensure ESRD beneficiaries received education about their treatment options, implementing data quality measures to ensure accuracy and consistency. His work on the Building Synthetic Healthcare Data for Research project with AHRQ involved developing a nationally representative synthetic healthcare database using advanced statistical models. Additionally, Dr. Ray contributed to the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) Model project for CMS by designing financial methodologies to improve care quality for chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease patients. He also played a crucial role in the Qualified Independent Contractor (QIC) Demonstration Evaluation for CMS, using quasi-experimental methods and data analysis to enhance the Medicare Appeals Demonstration's effectiveness.