Joshua Liao, MD, MSc, FACP | Division of General Internal Medicine

Associate Professor

Medicine

Adjunct Associate Professor

Health Services

Director, Value and Systems Science Lab

Medical Director, Payment Strategy at UW Medicine

Faculty Information

Biography

Dr. Liao is a board-certified internal medicine physician and the Medical Director of Payment Strategy at UW Medicine, where he is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine within the UW School of Medicine and the Department of Health Services within the UW School of Public Health. He completed medical school at Baylor College of medicine and trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital where he was also a Clinical Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his health policy and economics training. Dr. Liao’s scholarly work focuses on how use payment and delivery redesign work together with clinician and patient decision-making to improve care.

Education & Training:

Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, TX

2008–2012

Internal Medicine Internship and Residency

Brigham & Women's Hospital

Boston, MA

2012–2015

Fellowship in Medicine

Harvard Medical School

Boston, MA

2012–2015

MSc

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

2015–2017

Honors:

Gold Humanism Honor Society, Baylor College of Medicine

2012

Alpha Omega Alpha

2012

James K. Alexander Research Symposium Winner (2nd place), Baylor College of Medicine

2012

Musher Prize for Excellence in Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine

2012

National Medical Student Poster Competition Winner, American College of Physicians

2012

L. Randol Barker Award for achievement in medical education, Johns Hopkins University

2012

Foundation for Creative Achievement Award in Primary Care Diagnostics, Brigham & Women’s Hospital

2012

Scholarship for the National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, Partners Healthcare, Center of Expertise in Quality and Patient Safety

2013

Resident Mentor Award, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Internal Medicine Residency

2014

Top 3 Abstracts in Quality & Safety, American College of Radiology 2016 National Meeting

2016

Invited Fellowship (FACP), American College of Physicians

2017

Contact

Email:

joshliao@uw.edu

Research & Clinical Interests

Research Interests:

Decision Science & Behavioral Economics
Value-Based Payment Reform and Care Delivery
Medical Imaging

Publications

Publications:

Selected peer-reviewed publications

Liao JM. A Matter of the Heart. Ann Intern Med. 2011; 155(10):716.
Liao JM, Stewart GC, Padera RF, Miller AL, Loscalzo J. Clinical problem-solving. A curious case of chest pain. N Engl J Med 2013;369(19):1844–1850.
Liao JM, Thomas EJ, Bell SK. Speaking Up About the Dangers of The Hidden Curriculum. Health Affairs. 2014;33(1)168–171.
Liao JM, Wachter RM. Grading residents’ clinical performance: Unique opportunities and challenges. J Gen Intern Med. 2014;29(7):983–985.
Liao JM, Roy CL, Eibensteiner K, Nolido N, Schnipper JL, Dalal AK. Lost in Transition: Discrepancies in how Physicians Perceive the Actionability of the Results of Tests Pending at Discharge. J Hosp Med. 2014;9(6):407–409.
Liao JM, Fischer MA. Early Trends in Sofosbuvir Utilization by State Medicaid Programs. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(13):1279–1281.
Liao JM, Secemsky BJ. The Value of Narrative Medical Writing in Internal Medicine Residency. J Gen Intern Med. 2015;30(11):1707–1710.
Liao JM, Co JT, Kachalia A. Providing Educational Content and Context for Training the Next Generation of Physicians in Quality Improvement. Acad Med. 2015;90(19):1241–1245.
Liao JM, Navathe AS. Money, Motivation, and Uncertainty in Paying for Performance. Lancet. 2016;387(10022):936–937.
Liao JM, Emanuel EJ, Navathe AS. Six Trends that will Reshape the Patient Provider Dynamic. Healthcare (Amst). 2016;4(3):148–150.
Liao JM, Fleisher LA, Navathe AS. Increasing the Value of Social Comparisons of Physician Performance Using Norms. JAMA. 2016;316(11):1151–1152.
Liao JM, Fischer MA. Restrictions of Hepatitis C Treatment for Substance-Using Medicaid Patients: Cost vs Ethics. Am J Public Health. 2017;107(6): 893–899.
Liao JM, Ommerborn MJ, Clark CR. Association between features of patient-provider discussions and routine prostate-specific antigen testing. PLoS One. 2017; 2(5): e0177687.
Liao JM, Schapira MM, Navathe AS, Mitra N, Weissman A, Asch DA. The effect of emphasizing patient, societal, and institutional harms of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing on physician support of financial penalties: A randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2017; 167(3): 215-216.
Liao JM, Navathe AS, Chu D. Reframing the Value Proposition of Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Bundles. JAMA Surg. 2018; 153(3):199-200.
Liao JM, Sommers BD, Navathe AS. Why Medicaid Needs Its Own Path to Value-Based Reforms. N Engl J Med. 2018; 379:105-108.
Liao JM, Shea JA, Weissman A, Navathe AS. Physician Perspectives in Year 1 of MACRA and its Merit-Based Payment System: A National Survey. Health Affairs. 2018; 37(7): 1079-1086.
Liao JM, Basu A, Lee CI. The Value of Imaging-Based Cancer Screening Episodes. J Gen Intern Med. 2018; 33(9): 1571-1573.
Liao JM, Chu D, Navathe AS. Succeeding in New Cardiac Bundles: Lessons from History, Directions for the Future. Ann Surg. 2018. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002852.
Liao JM, Navathe AS, Schapira MM, Weissman A, Mitra N, Asch DA. Penalizing Physicians for Low-Value Care in Hospital Medicine: A Randomized Survey. J Hosp Med. 2018 Jan 1;13(1):41-44. doi: 10.12788/jhm.2879. Epub 2017 Nov 22. PMID: 29186209.
Liao JM, Navathe AS, Schapira MM, Weissman A, Mitra N, Asch DA. When Reducing Low-Value Care in Hospital Medicine Saves Money, Who Benefits? J Hosp Med. 2018 Jan 1;13(1):45-48. doi: 10.12788/jhm.2878. Epub 2017 Nov 22. PMID: 29186210.
Liao JM, Hodlofski A, Moore R, Navathe AS. Partnership HealthPlan of California: Addressing opioid overuse with behavioral design principles. Healthc (Amst). 2018 Mar;6(1):95-98. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2017.11.002. Epub 2017 Nov 28. PMID: 29195750.
Liao JM, Polsky D, Emanuel EJ, Huang E, Shah Y, Zhu J, Lyon Z, Dykstra S, Navathe AS. National representativeness of hospitals and markets in Medicare’s mandatory bundled payment program. Health Affairs. 2019;38(1):44-53.
Liao JM, Navathe AS, Press MJ. Medicare’s Approach to Paying for Services that Promote Care Coordination. JAMA. 2019;321(2):147-148.
Liao JM, Martinez JR, Shan EZ, Huang JJ, Dinh CT, Huang Q, Navathe AS. Medicare’s New Voluntary Bundled Payment Program: Episode Selection and Participant Characteristics. Healthcare (Amst.). 2019; 7(2):26-30.
Liao GJ, Lee CI, Liao JM. Right Pockets, Right Solutions: Aligning Investments to Address Breast Cancer Screening Disparities. J Am Coll Radiol. 2019; 16(4):586-589.
Reddy A, Fihn SD, Liao JM. The MISSION Act: Creating a Center for Innovation in the VA. N Engl J Med. 2019;380(17):1592-1594.
Liao JM, Emanuel EJ, Venkataramani A, Huang Q, Gupta A, Dinh CT, Shan EZ, Small D, Coe NB, Wang E, Ma X, Zhu J, Cousins D, Navathe AS. The Long-Term Impact of Simultaneous Participation in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations and Bundle Payments on Outcomes for Lower Extremity Joint Replacement. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(9): e1912270.
Liao JM, Martinez JR, Shan EZ, Huang JJ, Dinh CT, Huang Q, Navathe AS. Medicare’s New Voluntary Bundled Payment Program: Episode Selection and Participant Characteristics. Healthcare (Amst.). 2019; 7(2):26-30.
Rolnick JA, Liao JM, Emanuel EJ, Ma X, Shan EZ, Zhu J, Wang E, Huang Q, Cousins D, Navathe AS. Spending and Quality after Three Years of Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Medical Conditions: Quasi-Experimental Difference-in-Differences Study. BMJ. 2020;369:m1780.
Liao JM, Zhou L, Navathe AS. Physician Group Performance in the First Year of Medicare’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System. Healthcare (Amst). 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100421.
Liao JM, Zhou L, Navathe AS. Nationwide Hospital Performance on Publicly Reported Episode Spending Measures. J Hosp Med. 2020. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3377.
Liao JM, Navathe AS. Medicare’s Direct Contracting in Medicare: Opportunities and Risks for Surgeons. Ann Surg. Ann Surg. 2020;271(4):632-634.
Marcotte LM, Reddy A, Zhou L, Miller SC, Hudelson C, Liao JM. Trends in Utilization of Transitional Care Management in the United States. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(1):e1919571.
Marcotte JM, Liao JM. What We Talk About When We Talk about Care Management in the Era of Value-Based Payment. Am J Manag Care. 2020. 2020;26(6):245-247.
Marcotte LM, Liao JM. One Size will not Fit All: Factors that Drive Strategy in Accountable Care Organizations. American Journal of Accountable Care. 2020;8(1):3-5.
Schuttner L, Reddy A, White AA, Wong ES, Liao JM. Quality in the Context of Value: Reliability of Quality Metrics in an Academic Health System Shifting Towards Value-Based Payments. Am J Med Qual. 2020. doi.org/10.1177/1062860620917205.
Patel MS, Navathe AS, Liao JM. Using Nudges to Improve Value by Increasing Imaging-based Cancer Screening. J Am Coll Radiol. 2020;17(1):38-41.
Marcotte LM, Schuttner L, Liao JM. Measuring Low-Value Care: Learning from our Experience Measuring Quality. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2020;29(2):154-156.
Liao JM, Pauly MV, Navathe AS. When Should Medicare Mandate Participation in Alternative Payment Models? Health Affairs. Health Affairs. 2020;39(2):305-309.
Liao JM. Real and Perceived Opportunities for Radiologists to Respond to Value-Based Payment Reform. J Am Coll Radiol. 2020. 17(1):200-202.
Liao JM, Navathe AS, Werner RM. The Impact of Medicare’s Alternative Payment Models on the Value of Care. Annual Review of Public Health. 2020; 41:12.1-12.15.
Navathe AS, Emanuel EJ, Venkataramani AS, Huang Q, Gupta A, Dinh CT, Shan EZ, Small D, Coe N, Wang E, Ma X, Zhu J, Cousins DS, Liao JM. Spending and Quality after 3 years of Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Joint Replacement Surgery. Health Affairs. 2020;39(1):58-66.
Liao JM, Pronovost PJ, Navathe AS. To Re-Open Health Care, Leaders Should Address Patient Fear. NEJM Catalyst. 2020. (forthcoming).
Marcotte LM, Krimmel-Morrison J, Liao JM. Addressing Diffusion of Responsibility in the Era of Value-Based Care. AMA J Ethics. 2020. (forthcoming).

Selected other publications

Liao JM. When Patients are More Than Their Data. The Boston Globe. 2013.
Liao JM, Chaiyachati KH. Beyond Adjustments for Socioeconomic Status in Hospital Readmissions Policies. Harvard Public Health Review. 2016.
Liao JM, Kanjee Z. Internal Medicine Evidence. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2017.
Liao JM, Pauly MV. Orphan Drugs: Pursuing Value and Avoiding Unintended Effects of Regulations. Health Affairs Blog. 2017.
Navathe AS, Anastos-Wallen RE, Emanuel EJ, Liao JM. What’s in a Name: Will BPCI-Advanced Hold Back or Advance Bundled Payment Policy? Health Affairs Blog. 2018.
Liao JM, Dykstra SE, Werner RM, Navathe AS. BPCI-Advanced Will Further Emphasize the Need to Address Overlap between Bundled Payments and Accountable Care Organizations. Health Affairs Blog. 2018.
Navathe AS, Shan E, Liao JM. What Have We Learned about Bundling Medical Conditions? Health Affairs Blog. 2018.
Navathe AS, Emanuel EJ, Liao JM. Policy Trends That May Drive Different Care Redesign for Procedural vs Non-Procedural Bundles. Health Affairs Blog. 2019.
Liao JM, Navathe AS. Medicare’s Direct Provider Contracting: To Primary Care and Beyond. Health Affairs Blog. 2019.
Navathe AS, Bekelman JE, Liao JM. Advancing Bundled Payments through Radiation Oncology Episodes. Health Affairs Blog. 2019.
Liao JM, Miller SC, Navathe AS. To Succeed, MIPS Value Pathways Need More Episodic Cost Measures. Health Affairs Blog. 2019.
Liao JM, Navathe AS. When Site-of-Service Policy and Payment Reforms Converge: The Case of Joint Replacement Surgery. Health Affairs Blog. 2020.
Liao JM, Navathe AS. Does MIPS Disproportionately Impact Safety-Net Practices? JAMA Health Forum. 2020.
Marcotte LM, Navathe AS, Staloff J, Liao JM. Medicare’s Reliance On Acute Hospitalization Rates Could Undercut The Impact Of Its Primary Care First Program. Health Affairs Blog. 2020.

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