HFMA Recognizes Elliott Fisher for Contributions to Health Care
The Healthcare Financial Management Association presented its highest individual achievement award to Elliott Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., during HFMA’s annual conference today in Orlando.
The Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award was presented to Fisher in recognition of his leadership in advancing the science of health care delivery and in developing new models of healthcare delivery and payment.
Dr. Fisher is Director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the John E. Wennberg Distinguished Professor of Health Policy, Medicine and Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He is also Co-Director of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
“Dr. Fisher’s groundbreaking work on the concept of accountable care organizations paved the way for the subsequent development of ACOs,” said HFMA president and CEO Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA. “He continues to be a top thought leader in this key area.”
Fisher is noted for three major contributions. First, he led seminal research on the promise and perils of using large databases for healthcare research, work that helped to validate the quality of the data and demonstrated how such data could be used to answer important epidemiologic and policy questions. He then built on this work to explore the causes and consequences of the dramatic differences in spending observed across U.S. regions and academic medical centers. He then demonstrated that the 60 percent higher intensity of care in high-cost U.S. regions and health systems did not result in better health outcomes and was largely due to differences in the use of discretionary and potentially avoidable care. This work was the first to reveal the magnitude of waste in U.S. health care and helped provide the rationale for the transition to value-based payment that is now underway. Finally, he led the team that did the empirical research that provided the theoretical rationale for accountable care organizations and worked with colleagues to adapt the concept in ways that helped lead to its inclusion in the Affordable Care Act and adoption by many private payers. His current research focuses on exploring the determinants of successful ACO formation and performance.
Fisher has published over 150 research articles and commentaries. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and completed his internal medicine residency and public health training at the University of Washington. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Established in 1964, the Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award recognizes individuals who make significant, positive contributions to the profession of healthcare finance or the financing of healthcare services.
Karen Thomas
Healthcare Financial Management Association
(708) 492-3377
kthomas@hfma.org
About HFMA
With more than 40,000 members, the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is the nation's premier membership organization for healthcare finance leaders. HFMA builds and supports coalitions with other healthcare associations and industry groups to achieve consensus on solutions for the challenges the U.S. healthcare system faces today. Working with a broad cross-section of stakeholders, HFMA identifies gaps throughout the healthcare delivery system and bridges them through the establishment and sharing of knowledge and best practices. We help healthcare stakeholders achieve optimal results by creating and providing education, analysis, and practical tools and solutions. Our mission is to lead the financial management of health care. hfma.org
