Professional Experience

Ms. Bhandarkar provides strategic and business advice, policy analysis, project implementation support, and coalition building and advocacy services to clients in the areas of healthcare access, healthcare financing and health information technology. Her clients include healthcare providers, health plans, foundations, and policy and advocacy organizations.

Prior to joining Manatt, Ms. Bhandarkar was a senior analyst for the Hanover Research Council, where she conducted commissioned research for healthcare clients on a variety of practice improvement initiatives. She has also worked for the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, where she provided technical assistance and training to health practitioners and youth workers in New York State. There, she managed evaluation projects of the center’s medical services, and coordinated strategic planning and fundraising initiatives with its Advisory Board. Ms. Bhandarkar has also worked in the Health Division of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C, where she tracked program changes to States’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs.

Education

Johns Hopkins University, M.P.H., M.B.A., 2005.

Tufts University, B.A., Political Science and French, 1999.

Memberships & Activities

Member, American Public Health Association.

Board Member, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS).

Member, South Asian Public Health Association.
Treasurer, April 2002-2004.

Chair, Project-Impact for South Asian Americans, 2003-2004.

Publications

Contributor, “State Level Health Information Exchange:  Roles in Ensuring Governance and Advancing Interoperability,” Preliminary 2007 Findings from State-level HIE Consensus Project, prepared for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, September 28, 2007.

Co-Author, “Administration of Medicaid in New York State: Key Players and Their Roles,” Medicaid Institute at the United Hospital Fund, 2006.

Co-author, “Including At-Risk Adolescents in Their Own Health and Mental Healthcare: A Youth Development Perspective,” Social Work in Mental Health, 2004.

Co-author, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Sexual-Orientation Questioning Adolescents Seeking Mental Health Services: Risk Factors, Worries, and Desires to Talk About Them,” Social Work in Mental Health, 2004.

Co-author, “The Health of South Asians in the United States,” South Asian Public Health Association, 2002.

Languages

French and Konkani.