Amir Qaseem is Vice President of Clinical Policy and the Center for Evidence Reviews at the American College of Physicians (ACP) and Adjunct Faculty at Thomas Jefferson University. ACP is an international organization of internal medicine physicians and it is the largest medical specialty society in the world. Dr. Qaseem is responsible for leading the ACP’s evidence-based medicine and clinical practice guidelines program, the oldest program in the United States, including writing the clinical guidelines and overseeing the ACP’s Clinical Guidelines Committee. Dr. Qaseem also directs and provides strategic guidance for ACP's performance measurement program and is responsible for ACP’s Performance Measurement Committee. Dr. Qaseem chairs the ACP High Value Care Task Force, which is responsible for evaluating and publishing the benefits, harms, and costs of various overused, misused, and underused diagnostic tests and therapeutic interventions. Dr. Qaseem has also been responsible for the development and implementation of ACP’s quality improvement and educational programs.

At the national level, Dr. Qaseem is deeply involved in several initiatives to improve quality of care in the United States, including population health related projects. Some examples of his current involvement include chairing the Health and Well Being Committee of the National Quality Forum, which recommends performance measures at the population level. Dr. Qaseem also chairs the Measures Advisory Committee of PCPI, which is responsible for advancing measurement science and methods. Dr. Qaseem is on the Steering Committee of HRSA’s Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), to determine which screenings and other preventive health services clinicians should routinely offer to patients. Recommendations made by WPSI serve as the basis for insurance coverage at no cost sharing to the patient, and are an integral part of the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Qaseem is also a member of Measures Application Partnership (MAP).

Dr. Qaseem’s work is not just limited to the national level, and he is highly regarded at the international level as well. He is President Emeritus of the Guidelines International Network, the largest home for guideline developers, implementers, and evidence-based health care in the world. Dr. Qaseem is frequently invited to participate and provide guidance to develop national level health policy, research, and quality improvement programs of other countries. His experiences include training and working with federal agencies and national level organizations in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and South America. Dr. Qaseem is also involved in several international collaborations to develop joint clinical guidelines and share experiences related to performance measures. Dr. Qaseem has been invited to speak on issues related to health policy and economics, evidence-based medicine, performance measurement, guideline development, evidence synthesis, health services research and methodology, and quality of care.

Dr. Qaseem has published over 100 papers in top 5 medical journals in the world. Some of the papers authored by Dr. Qaseem are in the top 10 most read articles ever in the Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition, he has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics including health services research, quality improvement, methodologies for clinical performance measures and clinical practice guidelines, implementation of clinical guidelines, and health policy related issues.

Dr. Qaseem is on governance boards and committees of various national and international organizations including National Quality Forum, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Measures Application Partnership, GRADE, Guidelines International Network, and American Medical Association PCPI, and America’s Health Insurance Plans Quality Collaborative, to name a few.  

Statement of Interest

I am submitting my name for your consideration and your vote for a position on the Board of Directors of the AcademyHealth. I have been a proud member of AcademyHealth for 13 years, since 2004. I still remember my first AcademyHealth Conference that I attended as a presenter in Nashville in 2003. I felt that AcademyHealth was my home as I shared my thoughts and ideas with other health policy makers and health services researchers. The health care system in the United States is going through a major transformation both in the way we deliver care and how we pay for it. This is happening as we continue to lag in clinical outcomes while continuing to lead in spending, when compared to other OECD countries. There are many reasons for these health care costs, including overuse, misuse, and underuse of health care interventions. There continues to be a large gap between various points along the continuum of research to translation into clinical practice and even further onto regulatory and coverage decisions. I would like to work together with you to:

  • Engage organizations and individuals who can complement the work of AcademyHealth and start thinking about what clinical care and delivery systems should look like in 5 to 10 years’ time. Think beyond the current environment that is becoming solely focused on clinical quality measures.
  • Work together with health information technology colleagues to close the gaps with implementation of research and evidence.
  • Focus on bringing patients and clinicians under AcademyHealth’s umbrella to understand what our patients’ values and hurdles practicing clinicians face in their daily practice.
  • Develop and advance the science and methods in research and implementation to drive improvements in population health in a shorter time, more efficient fashion, and cost effectively without compromising the quality.
  • Foster and build new leaders among AcademyHealth members who can take the reign and steer us into the next decade.
  • Strive to develop a system to share our resources to avoid duplication of efforts in research and promote collaboration.
  • Focus on increasing the value of AcademyHealth’s membership.
  • Support the core business, focusing on the long-term financial stability of the organization.

It would truly be an honor for me if I am given the opportunity to represent you as a Director. Thank you and warm regards.