PASADENA, Calif., May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH, the New York state commissioner of health, has joined Kaiser Permanente Southern California as senior vice president and chief operating officer for Clinical Operations.
In this role, Dr. Shah will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality care and service to the more than 3.7 million Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California.
"It is a privilege to join Kaiser Permanente, the national model of care for preserving and improving health," said Dr. Shah. "I look forward to working with world-class clinicians and caregivers to help our members live their lives to the fullest."
As New York's health commissioner, Dr. Shah directed one of the nation's leading public health agencies. The agency created the New York State insurance exchange and administered the state's public health insurance programs, covering 5 million residents. The department also regulates hospitals and other health care facilities, conducts research, and supports public health and prevention initiatives.
"Nirav Shah's expertise in patient safety and delivery of high-quality health care aligns with Kaiser Permanente's commitment to improving the total health of our members and communities," said Benjamin K. Chu, MD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente executive vice president, group president and Southern California regional president. "Throughout his career as a physician, administrator, researcher and medical educator, Dr. Shah has shown a singular focus to the same goal that inspires our health care providers -- achieving optimum health outcomes for every patient, every time."
Dr. Shah will be responsible for key programs that ensure the best outcomes and experiences for Kaiser Permanente members, including quality, service, nursing and the use of technology, data and analytics. Hewill work with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group to advance medical education and research. He will also oversee health plan and hospital accreditation, regulatory compliance and licensure.
Dr. Shah is board-certified in Internal Medicine and is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Yale School of Medicine. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UCLA, attending physician at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, associate investigator at Geisinger in central Pennsylvania, and on the faculty of NYU in the Section of Value and Comparative Effectiveness.
Dr. Shah is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has served as chairman of National Institutes of Health grant review panels, and has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Shah is a nationally recognized thought leader in patient safety and quality, comparative effectiveness, and the methods needed to transition to lower-cost, patient-centered health care for the 21st century.
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, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve approximately 9.1 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 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.
CONTACT: Socorro Serrano, Socorro.l.serrano@kp.org, 626-405-3004
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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente
