Raina M Merchant, MD MSHP FAHA

Professor of Emergency Medicine
Senior Fellow, Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives
Director, Center for Digital Health
Senior Fellow, Institute for Biomedical Informatics
Affiliated faculty, Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics
Chief Transformation Officer and Vice President, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Executive Director, Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation, Penn Medicine
Board Member, Penn Medicine at Home Entity
Department: Emergency Medicine
Contact information
PCAM, 5th floor, C-suite
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Education:
BA (Psychobiology)
Yale University, 1998.
MD
University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, 2003.
MS (Master of Science in Health Policy Research)
University of Pennsylvania, 2009.
Permanent linkBA (Psychobiology)
Yale University, 1998.
MD
University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, 2003.
MS (Master of Science in Health Policy Research)
University of Pennsylvania, 2009.
Description of Research Expertise
Dr. Merchant is a tenured Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and has secondary appointments in the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, and Division of Health Policy. She is also a physician executive and serves as the Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer for Penn Medicine. Much of her research and operations work bridges new technologies in the fields of cardiovascular health, mental health, cancer care, disaster medicine, public health, health equity and resuscitation science. Dr. Merchant has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2011 and her work has been published in journals such as NEJM, JAMA, Circulation, and Health Affairs. She is a member of the editorial board of JAMA. She is an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow and was recognized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of 10 investigators likely to have a significant impact on the future of health and healthcare in the US. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.Selected Publications
Laurie Morrison L, Hunt E, Grunau B, Aufderheide T, Callaway C Tonna J, Sasson C, Blewer A, McNally B, Yannopoulos D, Belohlavek J, Bartos J, Combes A, Idris A, Merchant RM, States L, Tinsley E, Wong R, Youngquist S, Sopko G, Kern K : International Consensus on Evidence Gaps and Research Opportunities in Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Report from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop. Journal of the American Heart Association Mar 2025 Notes: (in press).Bakillah E, Rosenthal JW, Syvyk S, Wirtalla C, Sharpe J, Merchant RM, Mehta SJ, Guerra CE, Kelz R. : Colorectal Cancer and Quality of Life: A Medicare Advantage Study by Race, Ethnicity, and Language. Journal of Surgical Oncology Jan 2025 Notes: (epub ahead of print).
Agarwal AK, Gonzalez, RE, Southwick L, Schroeder D, Sharma M, Bellini L, Asch DA, Mitra N, Balachandran M, Wolk CB, Becker-Haimes EM, Kishton R, Beck S, Merchant RM.: Understanding Health Care Workers' Mental Health Needs: Insights from a Qualitative Study on Digital Interventions. BMC Health Services Research. In press. BMC Health Services Research 2025 Notes: in press.
Agarwal AK, Schroeder D, Gonzale R, Southwick L, Bellini L, Asch DA, Merchant RM.: Evaluating Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation Among Healthcare Workers: A secondary analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2025 Notes: (in press).
Bakillah E,Syvyk S, Wirtalla C, Sharpe J, Merchant RM, Mehta SJ, Guerra CE, Kelz R: The Burden of Colorectal Cancer Treatment on Quality of Life: A Paired Longitudinal Analysis of Medicare Advantage Enrollees. Journal of Surgical Oncology 2025 Notes: (in press).
Gathers CA, Morgan RW, Alley JS, Reeder R, Goldberger Z, Fowler J, Naim M, O’Halloran A, Merchant RM, Kienzle M,Nadkarni V, Berg RA, Sutton RM: Race is not Associated with Medical Emergency Team Evaluation Prior to In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation 2025 Notes: in press.
Southwick L, Sharma M, Rai S, Beidas R, Mandell D, Curtis B, Asch DAA, Chandra Guntuku SC, Merchant RMM : Integrating Patient-Generated Digital Data into Mental Health Therapy: A mixed methods analysis of user experience. JMIR Mental Health 11: e59785, Dec 2024 Notes: (in press).
Sehgal NK, Agarwal AK, Southwick L, Pelullo A, Ungar L, Merchant RM, Chandra-Guntuku S: Disparities by race and urbanity in online health care facility reviews. Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open 7(11): e2446890, Nov 2024.
Agarwal AK, Southwick L, Pelullo A, McCalpin HJ, Gonzales RE, Asch DA, Livesey C, Bellini L, Kishton R, Beck S, Merchant RM: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Health Care Worker Mental Health and Utilization of a Digital Mental Health Platform from 2020 to 2023. British Medical Journal Quality Open Press 13(3), Sep 2024.
Mahoney KM, Merchant RM, Schnall MD: Build or buy? Managing the new technology decision tree. Frontiers of Health Services Management 41(1): 21-25, Aug 2024.