Newswise — WASHINGTON (March 3, 2011) — Robert Graham, M.D., joins the faculty of the GW School of Public Health and Health Services as a research professor of Health Policy and director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program. AF4Q is the cornerstone of the RWJF’s multi-year, $300 million commitment to improve the quality and equality of health care nationwide. The GW Department of Health Policy serves as the national program office of the Aligning Forces for Quality program.
Dr. Graham is a renowned advocate for policy studies in family medicine and primary care and visionary for the American Academy of Family Physicians Robert Graham Center, a center that focuses on a blend of research to support the Academy’s policy development and advocacy efforts and Center-initiated studies. He joins the faculty at GW from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he served as a professor and endowed chair in the department of Family Medicine. In addition, for the past year, he has served as project director for Cincinnati’s Aligning Forces for Quality effort, overseeing all aspects of the program in the Cincinnati tri-state area.
“Welcoming Dr. Graham to the GW School of Public Health and Health Services is an honor. Adding the expertise of Dr. Graham to the Department of Health Policy will reaffirm our reputation as one of the premiere academic health policy departments in the country,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, Dean, GW School of Public Health and Health Services.
Dr. Graham received his medical degree from the University of Kansas, and has had a distinguished career in health policy administration. He served as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration in the U.S. Public Health Service, held senior positions with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and was CEO of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is currently chair of the board of the Alliance for Health Reform and a member of the Institute of Medicine.
“The department of Health Policy could not be more fortunate in the appointment of Robert Graham to its faculty,” said Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., chair of GW’s department of Health Policy. “His leadership of Aligning Forces for Quality will further enhance and strengthen the Foundation’s wonderful program.”
RWJF officials made a 10-year commitment to the Aligning Forces strategy, from 2006 through 2015. In the next phase of Aligning Forces, from May 2011 until May 2013, AF4Q community teams will continue to improve quality and equity in care and will increase their focus on improving the value of local health care. Local AF4Q alliances will lead efforts to compare costs that different local physicians charge for similar services and explore how payment to physicians could be linked to their ability to consistently provide quality care. Graham replaces Bruce Siegel, M.D., M.P.H., who left GW and the leadership of AF4Q in 2010 to lead the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.
About the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services:
Established in July 1997, the School of Public Health and Health Services brought together three longstanding university programs in the schools of medicine, business, and education that we have since expanded substantially. Today, more than 900 students from nearly every U.S. state and more than 35 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health. Our student body is one of the most ethnically diverse among the nation's private schools of public health. www.sphhs.gwumc.edu
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