Cardiologist Lee leaves Partners for Press Ganey

Cardiologist Thomas H. Lee, MD, will leave his position as network president at Partners HealthCare System in Boston to assume the role of chief medical officer at Press Ganey Associates in South Bend, Ind., as of July 1.

A practicing physician and researcher, Lee is known for his work on patient care and outcomes. He spearheaded efforts at Partners HealthCare and Partners Community HealthCare, where he was named CEO in 2004, to improve the quality and efficiency of care. Partners Community HealthCare, an integrated delivery system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, is affiliated with 4,500 physicians who provide care to more than 1.5 million patients. Prior to his position as CEO, he had been chief medical officer since the organization’s founding in 1995.

Lee is a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, where his research has focuses on cardiovascular disease risk stratification and management strategies and improving quality of care, with a focus on critical pathways, guideline development and implementation and managed care. He has been co-chair of the Committee for Performance Measures of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and chair of NCQA’s Cardiovascular Measurement Advisory Panel since 1996. His past achievements include a Clinical Investigator Award from The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association.

He also has served as an associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. In a March 13 perspective article on accountable care organizations (ACOs), he co-wrote: “For ACOs to be successful, they must improve the efficiency of care. But they must also maintain or increase their market share, which means that they need to fulfill patients' expectations regarding experience and outcomes. At the same time, to attract and retain excellent clinicians, ACOs must be places where top-quality professionals want to work. Incentives, like targets and performance measures for quality and efficiency, are management tools for steering toward these goals.”

Press Ganey CEO Patrick T. Ryan said Lee will help providers identify opportunities to improve patient care, improve quality and manage costs. “Dr. Lee brings a deep appreciation for the value of patient feedback as well as the importance of physician alignment with the improvement insights derived from the voice of the patient,” Ryan said in a release.

Lee graduated from Harvard College in 1975, Cornell University Medical College in 1979 and Harvard School of Public Health in 1987, where he earned a master’s degree in epidemiology. He completed his training in internal medicine and cardiology in 1985 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Lee is expected to retain his duties on the Panel of Health Advisors for the Congressional Budget Office, the Special Medical Advisory Group for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Leadership Council of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He also will continue to practice primary care one morning each week in the Boston area.

Candace Stuart, Contributor

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