ABIM Foundation Announces New Members of Board of Trustees

The ABIM Foundation announces the appointments of three new members to its Board of Trustees, John G. Harold, MD, David H. Johnson, MD and Christine A. Sinsky, MD, effective July 1, 2013.

Dedicated to advancing medical professionalism to improve the health care system, the ABIM Foundation seeks to engage the health care community—physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, consumer organizations and patients, delivery system leaders, payers and policy makers—to build a shared understanding of professionalism and actively advance the tenets of professionalism in practice. Medical professionalism is the daily expression of what originally drew physicians to the field of medicine – a desire to help people and to help society as a whole by providing quality health care. But many physicians today experience profound obstacles to fulfilling the ideals of medical professionalism in practice.

“Each of these physicians is a shining example of medical professionalism in practice. I am so pleased that the Foundation sought to bring on three physicians who not only have a strong scholarly background, but who regularly see patients and will bring the practicing physician perspective to the work of the Foundation,” said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation.

Dr. Harold, board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, geriatric medicine and critical care medicine, is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles and President of the American College of Cardiology. A former member of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Board of Directors, Dr. Harold completed his internal medicine training at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and his cardiology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Dr. Johnson, board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology, is the Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. In addition to serving on the ABIM Foundation Board of Trustees, he is also Chair of the ABIM Board of Directors. A widely recognized leader in the oncology field, Dr. Johnson is a founding member of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and served as President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology from 2004-2005. He has authored more than 350 peer reviewed articles and 40 book chapters, and edited four oncology textbooks.

Dr. Sinsky, board certified in internal medicine, is a general internist at Medical Associates Clinics and Health Plans in Dubuque, Iowa. Currently serving on the ABIM Board of Directors, she is also a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and recipient of the 2013 Laureate award from the Iowa chapter of ACP. A leader in the movement to revitalize the primary care field, Dr. Sinsky and a team of researchers visited 23 high-performing practices across the United States seeking innovations that could help restore joy in the practice. The results of their work, funded by the ABIM Foundation, were published in the Annals of Family Medicine article “In Search of Joy in Practice: A Report of 23 High-Functioning Primary Care Practices.”

The Board of Trustees governs the ABIM Foundation, and both guides and helps advance the Foundation’s work in medical professionalism. The Board includes national leaders in quality assessment and improvement, medical education, practicing physicians, consumer advocates, policy makers, purchasers and physician leaders who have served on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Board of Directors.

The Trustees also provide guidance on the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely^® campaign. In 2012, the ABIM Foundation along with nine medical specialty societies and Consumer Reports, launched the campaign to help physicians, patients and other health care providers engage in conversations about overused and wasteful tests and procedures. In February 2013, an additional 17 societies announced lists and nearly 30 more have joined and will release lists in late 2013 and early 2014.

The 2013-2014 ABIM Foundation Board of Trustees includes:

• Chair: Donald E. Wesson, MD, Vice Dean, Texas A&M Health Science Center (Temple Campus); Chief Academic Officer, Scott & White Clinic/Hospital
• Immediate Past Chair: Glenn M. Hackbarth, JD, Chairman, MedPAC
• Vice-Chair: Holly J. Humphrey, MD, Ralph W. Gerard Professor of Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago
• Secretary-Treasurer: Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD, Director, Kaiser Permanente Center for Effectiveness & Safety Research
• Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO, American Board of Internal Medicine and ABIM Foundation
• John G. Harold, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); Attending Physician, Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
• David H. Johnson, MD, Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Jackie Judd, Health Care Communications Consultant
• Wendy S. Levinson, MD, Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
• Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and Director, NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
• John C. Rother, JD, President and CEO, National Coalition on Health Care
• Martín-J. Sepúlveda, MD, IBM Fellow and Vice President, Health Industries Research, IBM
• Christine A. Sinsky, MD, General Internist, Medical Associates Clinic and Health Plans
• Robert M. Wachter, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Chairman, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); Chief, UCSF Division of Hospital Medicine

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