Dr. Buist named senior scholar in residence at AcademyHealth

Seattle, WA—Diana Buist, PhD, MPH, is joining AcademyHealth as a Senior Scholar in Residence starting this month.

Dr. Buist will continue as a senior scientific investigator at Group Health Research Institute, an affiliate professor in the Departments of Health Services and Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health, and an affiliate member of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Public Health Sciences Division.

As an AcademyHealth Senior Scholar in Residence, Dr. Buist will apply her expertise in delivery system and multi-site projects to efforts to improve research translation and the speed with which evidence is effectively applied in health policy. AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving health services and policy research—supporting the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health.

The Senior Scholar in Residence program provides an opportunity for AcademyHealth members to experience first-hand the role that health services research can play in informing national policy issues. The program gives the Senior Scholars a chance to deepen their understanding of how health services research informs national policy; brings new and innovative thinking and research to national policy discussions; and increases interactions between AcademyHealth members and staff to increase their mutual understanding of key health issues and to help them better serve the field.

“I was drawn to the Senior Scholar in Residence program because it offered an opportunity to build upon my experience in a learning health system and develop additional skills to navigate the intersection of research, translation, and policy,” Dr. Buist said. “I would really like to better understand how policy decisions are made and how organizations like AcademyHealth can help bridge the academic dialogue gap with policymakers.”

At Group Health Research Institute, the research arm of Group Health Cooperative, which provides coverage and care, Dr. Buist has built a strong record of practical research and has led many efforts to improve care—for instance, helping Group Health to implement and evaluate the Choosing Wisely campaign. She says recent experience, including the rollout and subsequent political fallout of breast cancer screening guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce, clarified the critical importance and challenge of translating research into practice, and how communicating research findings at the right time, in the right way, to differing parties with competing interests, can impact health policymaking long term.

“I am pleased that Dr. Buist will have this opportunity to work with AcademyHealth,” said Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, executive director of Group Health Research Institute. “Group Health aspires to do research that is practical and leads to changes in practice and policy. Diana brings great experience from her accomplishments as a researcher in real-world delivery systems. Both Group Health and AcademyHealth will gain from her term as a Senior Scholar in Residence.”

“Dr. Buist’s experience studying the evidence around low value care and working to implement evidence-based guidelines in a learning healthcare system offers AcademyHealth a unique ‘on the ground’ perspective of the myriad forces impacting our translational ability at the systems level,” said AcademyHealth President and CEO Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH. “That perspective adds important context to our programs addressing delivery system reform and quality improvement, and will inform a number of activities under the umbrella of the AcademyHealth Translation and Dissemination Institute.”

Dr. Buist will spend approximately a quarter of her time as a senior scholar over the next 12 months, commuting to Washington regularly for one-week terms in residence every four to six weeks. She will maintain her full time appointment at Group Health Research Institute.

AcademyHealth

AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with our members, we offer programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.4 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.