JOSHUA LIAO

Joshua Liao, MD, MSc, is an internal medicine physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). He is a Professor with Tenure and the Walter Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine. At UTSW, he also serves as the Director of Research Methods for the Clinical and Translational Science Award. He also holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona.

Dr. Liao earned degrees magna cum laude in English Literature and Biochemistry from Rice University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and his medical degree cum laude from Baylor College of medicine, where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Liao trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital where he was also a Clinical Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and completed the Management and Leadership Track. He obtained his policy and evaluation training from the University of Pennsylvania. 

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Dr. Liao has committed his career to improving health care payment and care delivery. He works on this mission in several ways, including delivery system redesign, scholarship, and policy evaluation. Prior to UTSW, he served as Associate Chair for Health Systems in the Department of Medicine and Enterprise Medical Director of Payment Strategy at the University of Washington, with an appointment in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health within the School of Public Health. In Washington, he founded a nationally recognized policy evaluation unit that became the formal evaluation partner for the Washington Health Care Authority, the largest purchaser of health care services in that state. In that work, Dr. Liao has conducted evaluations and analysis to inform decision-makers on health care issues including primary care delivery and telemedicine.

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A leading national and international leader in health systems, policy, and care delivery, Dr. Liao has provided recommendations on these topics to the US Congress through service on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and to the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services through service on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee. He is the first person in history to serve simultaneously on both expert groups.

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Dr. Liao has also served as an expert on funding and accountability issues as part of the National Academy of Medicine’s Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation. He has participated on national advisories for the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association's RVU Update Committee, and advised state policymakers on payment and delivery policy issues.

His scholarship focuses on how systems of financing and delivering care work together to improve patient and population outcomes, with experience leading grants and evaluations totaling over $15 million in direct funding.

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Dr. Liao has published over 360 articles, including 230 in peer-reviewed medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Health Affairs, the Annals of internal Medicine, and the British Medical Journal. He has given over 80 national and international presentations in a range of clinical, policy, and practice transformation forums. His ideas and insights have appeared in outlets such as the Washington Post, Forbes, STAT, the Boston Globe, NPR, Harvard Business Review, the Seattle Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr. Liao has been interviewed for a number of national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, and the Hill. 

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