JOSHUA LIAO
Joshua Liao is an internationally recognized health systems expert and physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. A Professor and Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine, he leads clinical care, education, and research in the Division of General Internal Medicine as well as clinical and translational research methods across campus. Dr. Liao founded and leads PROPEL.
Joshua Liao, MD, MSc, is a physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), where he is a Professor with Tenure and the Walter Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine. At UTSW, he also serves as the Chief of the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine and the Director of Research Methods for the Clinical and Translational Science Award.
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. Dr. Liao holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona.
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, Value-Based Care, and Contracting 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. In Texas, he founded and leads the Program on Policy Evaluation and Learning -- a leading policy research and training unit that continues his health systems scholarship.
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.
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. Dr. Liao has published over 390 articles, including over 260 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. Review a sample of Dr. Liao's publications.
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.
IMPROVING HEALTH SYSTEMS
Dr. Liao has committed his career to improving health by improving health systems. In 2024, he poured his experience and expertise into Reshaping Health Systems: What Drives Health Care and How You Can Change It, a volume that uses a case-based format to impart foundational health systems knowledge and skills in ways that are intuitive, enjoyable, and accessible for clinicians and health system leaders alike.
The book is divided into two parts. Part I follows the journey of a patient navigating systems factors that influence her care across care settings. Part II follows the journey of a clinician working to improve care delivery using “systems solutions” from fields such as quality improvement, design thinking, change management, and implementation science.
National health care leaders have lauded the book for "masterfully [covering] both knowledge and skills" as a resource that "should be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand and improve the health care system."
MENTEES
Dr. Liao is committed to mentoring future physician-leaders and schoalrs in the areas of policy, practice transformation, research, and academic leadership.
Jessica Billig, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Kevin Duan, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Joseph Joo, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Jonathan Staloff, MD, MSc
Acting Instructor
Mark Chee MD, MA
Acting Instructor
Charles Jiang, MD
Assistant Professor
Anna Morenz, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Betty Yang, MD
Assistant Professor
PAST MENTEES
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Nikita Baclig, MD
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Jordan Banks, PhD
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Raj Bhanvadia, MD
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Matt Cataldo, MD
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Claire Child, DPT, MPH
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Carly Hudelson, MD
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Catherine Hwang, MD, MSc
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Ryan Clodfelter, MD
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Mitchell Dumais, MD
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Anisha Ganguly, MD, MPH
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Danielle Guyer, MD
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Jesper Ke, MD
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Jeffrey Krimmel-Morrison, MD
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Leah Marcotte, MD, MS
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Sophie Miller, MD, MPH
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John Morgan, MD, MSHP
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Kate Morgan, MD, MPH
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Stephen Nganga, MD
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Sophia Padelford, MD
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Rachel Prusynski, DPT, PhD
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Joshua Rosen, MD, MHS
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Vivek Sant, MD
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Linnea Schuttner, MD
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Elina Serrano, MD
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Fritz Seigert, MD
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Maya Volodarskaya, MD
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Chen Yang Wang, MHA
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Irene Zhang, MD
EXPERIENCE
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Independent Congressional agency (est. Balanced Budget Act of 1997)
Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee
US Department of Health & Human Services
Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation
National Academy of Medicine
Coding & Payment Policy Subcommittee
American College of Physicians
Adjunct Senior Fellow
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
RUC Advisory Committee
American Medical Association
Medical Practice and Quality Committee
American College of Physicians
Health Care Cost Transparency Board Data Advisory Committee
Washington Health Care Authority
Enteprise Medical Director of Payment Strategy
UW Medicine
Enterprise Associate Medical Director of Contracting and Value-Based Care
UW Medicine