Dr. Baker is Professor of Health Research and Policy and Chief of Health Services Research at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He also holds appointments in the Stanford Department of Economics, the Stanford Center for Health Policy, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.
He has published widely on a range of issues in health services research and health economics. A large portion of his work examines of the ways that incentives and organizational structures of health plans influence health care delivery, costs, and outcomes, and the determinants and effects of technology diffusion in medicine. His work also includes studies of quality of care in hospitals, health information technology, Medicare and Medicaid policy, and physician labor markets. His current work focuses on effects of changes in the size and organization of physician practice on the costs and quality of health care. Dr. Baker’s work has been funded by organizations including the NIH, AHRQ, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the California HealthCare Foundation, and recognized with awards from AcademyHealth, the American Society of Health Economists, and the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Dr. Baker is actively engaged in efforts to engage students and trainees in health services research. He serves as director of a large Stanford University School of Medicine program that involves medical students in health policy projects as well as research projects in other areas. He has mentored numerous student and fellow research projects, and teaches courses on health care systems and health services research issues for undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford.
Dr. Baker is a member of the boards of directors of the American Society of Health Economists, and the International Health Economics Association. He has served in advisory roles for the federal government and for the State of California, and as consultant to large insurance and provider organizations.
Dr. Baker received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.
AcademyHealth Board Nomination Committee Member 2017 - 2020
Laurence Baker is a 2024 grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Data for Action program, managed by AcademyHealth.