Dr. Carrie Nelson, after serving as the chief clinical officer for Advocate Physician Partners for the past eight years, was promoted to the position of system vice president for population health and health outcomes at Advocate Aurora Health. With accountability to the chief medical officer and the senior vice president of population health and managed care, her system-wide responsibilities include patient safety, health outcomes and risk management—in addition to population health across Advocate Aurora Health’s 400-mile footprint.

On the clinical side for population health, she focuses on care management, the pharmacy, and medical leadership. The emphasis is on improving chronic illness care, reducing re-admissions, advanced end-of-life care planning, and social determinants.

She started worked in the late 90's as the medical director for quality at Central DuPage Hospital and Central DuPage Physician Group.  As the Rush-Copley Medical Center patient safety officer/assistant vice president from 2005 to 2009, Dr. Nelson was instrumental in setting up its patient safety program.

On the quality front, she teamed up with the American Academy of Family Physicians to disseminate the Chronic Care Model to physician practices around the country to improve chronic illness care.

Despite her many leadership roles, Dr. Nelson is still proud of her work as a practicing family physician for the last 28 years.

Dr. Nelson graduated from Rush Medical College in 1989. She received her master’s in administrative medicine and population health from the University of Wisconsin in 2002. In 2002, she also achieved the Disease Specific Care Certification in Diabetes from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations for the Central DuPage Physician Group—the first physician group in the nation to receive this designation.

She currently serves as the president of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and has served as president of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians.