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The Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care
Health care in the United States is going through stormy changes that threaten health professionals’ wellbeing and the public’s trust. The ways in which health care professionals are currently measured and valued often work against the behaviors and relationships that patients want and expect from their providers. The Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care (CPV) aims to study relationships between professionalism and value, promote their alignment, recommend ways to reduce burden, and better support outcome and quality improvement.
Study relationships between professionalism and value
Promote the alignment
Recommend ways to reduce burden
Support outcome and quality improvement
The Social Contract
The Social Contract for Health Care is a set of commitments between health professions and the public which specifies professions’ obligations in return for the privileges afforded by society.Unfortunately, over the past decade, the Social Contract has begun to fray and the public’s faith in the health professions is waning. At the same time, dozens of state and national medical societies have launched legislative and judicial challenges to the utility of board certification, whose key component, self-regulation, is one of the most important obligations of the Social Contract. Furthermore, most health professionals are now employed by health systems, insurance companies, and even hedge funds, which can confuse or threaten the trusted, healing relationships that patients expect. Due to this environment and the fear of a continual breakdown in the Social Contract, the American Board of Family Medicine and it supporting foundation created the Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care. The ABFM’s investment in the CPV, and the way in which it has been launched, is designed to open its capacity to address issues of professionalism and value beyond family medicine, and even beyond medicine. When successful, it will have a variety of partners helping to shape both the public’s and the provider’s understanding of the Social Contract as well as policies that better support its success.
Our Staff Members
Robert L. Phillips, MD, MSPH
Founding Executive Director
Dr. Phillips co-directs the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care which aims to create space in which patients, health professionals, payers, and policymakers can work to renegotiate the social contract. The center will also seek to define value across the healthcare spectrum, how to measure it, how to improve it, and how to engage and develop leaders.
Prior to being named executive director of the center in 2018, Dr. Phillips was the ABFM Vice President for Research and Policy. From 2004 until 2012, Dr. Phillips was the director of the Robert Graham Center, a health policy research center in Washington, DC.
Dr. Phillips currently practices one day each week in a community-based residency program in Fairfax, Virginia, and is Professor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He previously served on the American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Education, as president of the National Residency Matching Program, vice chair of the US Council on Graduate Medical Education, co-chair of the Population Health Subcommittee and as a member of the executive committee of the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics. He also currently co-chairs the Committee on Implementing High-Quality Primary Care for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. He served as a Fulbright Specialist to the Netherlands in 2012 and New Zealand in 2016. Dr. Phillips was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for which he currently chairs the Membership Committee.
Dr. Phillips has deep experience in designing and implementing health services research pertinent to policy development and a history of prodigious productivity. His passion for underserved populations is born of growing up in a rural community that is both a Health Professions Shortage Area and Medically Underserved Area, currently served by two Rural Health Clinics. It was bolstered by working in a Federally Qualified Health Center imbedded in a Federal Housing Project. Dr. Phillips’ research and policy experience led him to his selection by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on a Federal Negotiated Rule Making Committee for the redesignation of shortage and underservice areas. He consults at local, state, national, and international levels, and serves as a role model for aspiring students and fellows.
Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH
Co-Director; Senior Vice President for Research & Policy, ABFM
Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH serves as the Senior Vice President of Research and Policy for the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). As Senior Vice President of Research and Policy, Dr. Bazemore’s areas of focus include leading the next phase of development of the ABFM research enterprise, co-leading ABFM’s Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care and coordinating and developing ABFM career development activities for ABFM Scholars, Pisacano Scholars and Puffer Fellows.
Dr. Bazemore previously served as the Director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine in Washington, DC, and as its Assistant Director for seven years prior to that. Dr. Bazemore helped cultivate the growth and evolution of the Graham Center into an internationally-known primary care research center with diverse funding sources. He guided and participated in the Graham Center’s research with special interest in access to care for underserved populations, health workforce and training, and spatial analysis. Dr. Bazemore also led the Graham Center’s emphasis on developing tools that empower primary care providers, leaders, and policymakers. He developed HealthLandscape, an innovative data engagement platform entirely funded by grants and contracts, including the nearly $1.5 million/year federal Uniform Data System (UDS) Mapper contract that guides funding for all the nation’s Federally Qualified Centers.
Dr. Bazemore has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and helped to create the Starfield Summit series, the Embassy Series events and novel settings for the Primary Care Forum Series. He has served in national policy roles including the Family Medicine for America’s Health Research Tactic Team, and Board of Directors as well as important committee roles for North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), the National Research Network, the Rural Training Track Consortium, the National Academies of Medicine, and the Council on Graduate Medical Education. He was elected as a member of the National Academies of Medicine in 2016 and named a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians last year.
Dr. Bazemore serves on the faculties of the Departments of Family Medicine at Georgetown University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He has also continued to see patients at Fairfax Family Practice Centers since joining the Graham Center in 2005. Dr. Bazemore previously served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati and as a Professorial Lecturer of Health Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health. Dr. Bazemore graduated from Davidson College, received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of North Carolina, and his MPH from Harvard University School of Public Health. He also completed a Global Health Fellowship at the University of Cincinnati.
Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH
Senior Consultant for Policy and Public Engagement
With three decades of experience in global, federal, state, association, and academic leadership roles, Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH consults with organizations to advance Policy, Research, and Networking strategies to improve health – ‘Pro Re Nata” (PolicyPRN Consulting, LLC).
A former Peace Corps volunteer and public health researcher, Marci served as health legislative assistant for US Senator Bob Kerrey-NE, and later as health lobbyist and deputy director of legislation at the AFL-CIO in Washington DC. She taught graduate and medical students as a faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), later serving as Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs. Appointed by Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Marci directed the Kansas Health Policy Authority (responsible for Medicaid, CHIP, the State Employee Health Plan, and health IT) for three years. For five years she served as CEO of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, a national multi-sector association advocating for advanced primary care. In 2017 she launched PolicyPRN Consulting LLC and subsequently joined one of her full-time clients – the Government Employee Health Association (GEHA) – as VP for Policy and Strategy. When COVID-19 hit, Marci returned to state government service working as chief advisor for COVID-19 coordination for Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. She led Kansas’ unified testing strategy, stakeholder engagement, and vaccine roll-out. She then joined a global civil society organization founded by former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden to help lead US advocacy efforts to invest in global and US public health and primary health care before returning to health consulting full time in 2023.
Marci has a PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, an MPH from George Washington University, and a BS in biology and psychology from Briar Cliff College. She has served on several non-profit health boards (National Academy for State Policy, the American Board of Family Medicine, Collaborative Family Health Association), various state & federal advisory committees, and co-edited the Policy Section of the Journal “Families, Systems, & Health” (a journal of the American Psychology Association). She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for the AAFP Foundation.
Jill Shuemaker, RN, CPHIMS, FHIMSS
Director, Clinician Measures
Jill Shuemaker, RN, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, directs the Clinician Measure efforts at The Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care. She is the enterprise subject matter expert in the area of clinical quality measurement, quality measure interpretation and development, electronic data extraction, clinical informatics, and health information technology (HIT). Jill facilitates the quality measure needs of primary care providers, researchers, PRIME Qualified Clinical Data Registry stakeholders, and internal and external collaborators.
Ms. Shuemaker is a registered nurse, clinical informaticist, a certified professional in health information management systems, and a Fellow member of HIMSS. She has held leadership positions in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) national committees and task forces. Jill was appointed to Co-Chair the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee’s (HITAC) 2021 EHR Reporting Program Task Force; is a member and past Chair of HIMSS’ National Quality and Safety Committee, and a current member of HIMSS Government Relations Public Policy committee. She has served on National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Measure Feedback Loop Committee, American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Core Quality Measure Collaborative (CQMC) and CQMC Digital Measurement Workgroup; and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clinical quality measure and health IT task forces. She is a national speaker and presenter on various clinical quality topics such as data driven patient care, quality metrics and reporting in value-based care, interoperability challenges to eCQM reporting, federal quality reporting provider value proposition, aligning eCQM compliance with improving care outcomes, and value-focused reimbursement. In recognition for her expertise in the field of healthcare and information technology, Ms. Shuemaker received the HIMSS Foundation Covert Award. She is uniquely qualified to provide key insights in the use of health IT in care delivery, quality measurement, and regulatory reporting. Ms. Shuemaker is passionate about family care and using technology to advance health through research, and quality measurement to improve care quality and influence policy.
Poonam Bal, MHSA, PMP
Deputy Director, Clinical Measures
Poonam Bal is an experienced, passionate, and committed healthcare expert. Skilled in bringing together stakeholders to collaborate on the nation’s most pressing healthcare issues, she has led several projects involving the rigorous development and evaluation of health care quality measures, selection of measures for federal programs, assessment of measurement science and advancement of best practices for improving health care. In her previous roles, she has also spearheaded company-wide initiatives such as strategic planning, process improvement, system enhancements, team building and training, cultivating a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
Poonam holds degrees in Finance and Human Resources from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Science in Health Systems Administration from Georgetown University. Additionally, she holds a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt Certification, further underscoring her commitment to driving operational excellence and delivering impactful results.
Nathaniel Hendrix
Research Scientist
Nathaniel Hendrix is a research scientist with the American Board of Family Medicine and their Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care. His research focuses on cost-effectiveness analysis, pharmacoepidemiology, and artificial intelligence in primary care. Nathaniel holds a PharmD from the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, and a PhD from University of Washington’s Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute, and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2020 – 2022.
Harry Pham
Research Data Analyst
Harry Pham is a research data analyst with the American Board of Family Medicine and their Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care. His background is in mathematics, and his research focuses on identifying structure in sequential data. Harry is a DMV native and received a MS in Mathematics of Information and Security from American University.
Emma Dorsch
Administrative Assistant
Emma Rose Dorsch is an Administrative Assistant with the American Board of Family Medicine and their Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care. Her background is in event and meeting management, administrative assistance, communications, and musical theater performance and education. Emma Rose holds a BA from American University in Public Relations and Strategic Communications and Musical Theater.
Kathryn Pham, PhD
Operations Manager
Kathryn Pham serves as the Operations Manager at the American Board of Family Medicine and its Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care. Prior to joining the CPV, Kathryn held a director-level role at EAB, a spin-off of the Advisory Board Company, where she led the implementation and management of cross-functional processes to align teams in product management, software engineering, partner success, and customer support. In this role, she drove collaboration and streamlined workflows to ensure cohesive, goal-oriented outcomes across departments. Kathryn holds a PhD in Health Care Ethics from the Albert Gnaegi Center at Saint Louis University, where she studied the management of moral distress and burnout among clinicians. She also holds an MA in Bioethics from Wake Forest University, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame.
PRIME Registry
Eric Bickelman
Acting Director, PRIME Registry
Eric Bickelman serves as the Acting Director of the PRIME Registry which aims to relieve burden for clinicians while improving patient care by improving quality assessment, prioritizing measures that matter, and attracting resources to primary care.
He joined the PRIME team in 2019 as the Program Manager responsible for regulatory compliance programs, supplier management, and project management. In that role, he managed software development projects and operations and collaborated with various organizations to improve healthcare in the United States.
Before this, Eric founded The ibuo Group, serving industry leaders across multiple sectors, guiding organizations through transition and growth periods, and collaborating with executives to enhance organizational performance. He also provided executive coaching and team development services in the education and manufacturing industries to increase personal self-awareness, improve organizational alignment, and drive measurable change. He also directed operational improvements in various industries, delivering significant cost savings through Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
Eric spent a decade at Tempur Sealy International, where he held several key positions in New Product Development, Information Technology (Six Sigma Black Belt Project office), Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain, and Customer Service. He led cross-functional teams to implement global ERP solutions, launch new products, , and optimize manufacturing and supply chain activities.
Earlier in his career, he held a range of positions in sales and service management, purchasing, supply chain management, pastoral care, education, and training.
Eric holds a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Humboldt State University. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP), Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), and has certificates in Lean methods and Global Leadership Assessment.
Sarah Hajjar, MPA, PMP
Director, PRIME Registry
Ms. Sarah Hajjar is Director of The PRIME Registry. Since joining the ABFM in 2016, she has overseen the launch of The PRIME Registry and led its growth to nearly 3,000 Primary Care clinicians, with practices in 49 states. She has shepherded the integration of innovative tools within PRIME Registry that provide additional value to clinicians and practices such as the Population Health Assessment Engine, PHATE ™, and Patient Reported Outcomes.
Prior to ABFM, Sarah was Senior Manager, Six Sigma for Dynamics AX Implementations at Tempur Sealy International in Lexington, KY. She has an M.P.A from Eastern Kentucky University, is a Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt and a certified Project Management Professional.
Haley Burke
PRIME Registry’s Project Manager
Haley Burke serves as the PRIME Registry’s Project Manager. Haley started with the American Board of Family Medicine in 2022 after several years of both clinical and healthcare data analytics experience. Her background is in management, with a Bachelors of Science degree from IUPUI. She has also received her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through the Project Management Institute.
Chelsea Henson
Client Relationship Specialist
Chelsea Henson joined the PRIME Registry team in May 2023 and serves as the Client Relationship Specialist. Prior to her work with PRIME, she was a student at Western Kentucky University where she earned her BS in Health Care Administration. In her current role, Chelsea manages practice interactions, ensuring high levels of satisfaction, and fostering positive relationships between the PRIME Registry and their customers.
Leo Coffey
Business Systems Specialist
Leo Coffey joined the ABFM in 2024 as the Business Systems Specialist for the PRIME Registry. He earned his B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina Asheville. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Kentucky.
Advisory Board
Christine Bechtel
Christine Bechtel is a well-known consumer advocate and the co-founder of X4 Health, a purpose-driven organization working to implement the Quadruple Aim of better health, better care, lower costs and better experiences for patients, families and professionals. Bechtel is a nationally recognized expert in patient-centered care, patient and family engagement, health IT, and quality improvement. Christine and the X4 team are the driving force behind 3rd Conversation, a program that is exploring ways to reinvent the provider-patient relationship as the foundation of meaningful systems change. The 3rd Conversation is working to put patients and clinicians back at the center of decision making, so they can build a system that actually creates health. An avid golfer, she lives in Maryland.
Linda A. McCauley
PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAOHN
Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAOHN, began her appointment as Dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) in 2009. Since then, she has launched a comprehensive strategic plan to position NHWSN at the forefront of nursing research and policy. Under her leadership, the school has risen from its No. 26 ranking in 2011 to its current position as No. 4 in US News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Nursing Schools” guide.
Dean McCauley is a thought leader at the intersection of environmental science and nursing. In 2015, she secured the largest NIH research grant in the school’s history—$5 million to develop The Children’s Environmental Health Center at Emory. Dean McCauley is an advocate for worker’s rights, occupational health, and environmental protections and has been called upon for Capitol Hill testimony regarding these issues. Additionally, she is an active elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). She is a sought-after expert with features across nationally syndicated outlets such as Time, NPR, The Weather Channel, and Business Week.
Holly Miller
Holly Miller spent her childhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the daughter of two healthcare workers. That experience led to a career in public service at the federal, state and local levels of government in environment, energy and education. In education, she helped develop and launch a pre-kindergarten – fifth grade contract school largely supported by philanthropy which pioneered later City of Seattle support for universal preschool and elementary school health clinics.
In 2004 Holly took the reigns at the City of Seattle’s Office for Education, eventually creating a Department of Education and enlarging the City’s $96 million/ 7-year Education Levy to a $632 million/ 7-year Levy. That Levy included funding for a City preschool program and for twenty five elementary school health clinics, in addition to twenty middle and high school clinics. The success of that voter-approved Levy was linked to the creation of a City Road Map to Success that relied on data garnered from three retrospective reviews of data from kindergarten- twelfth grade. That data revealed which milestones in a child’s development were most predictive of academic success and graduation from high school. Outcomes for all Levy investments were developed and included in performance contracts. For the first time, educators, administrators and voters were assured that outcomes, not just outputs, were being tracked. Significantly, this data showed that moderate use of school health clinics predicted academic success.
Holly ended her working career with a stint as Deputy Mayor of the City of Seattle. Otherwise, she served on several Boards, including The Joint Commission, the Foundation to support the Institut Medicale Chretienne du Kasai, the Group Health Foundation and co-founding The Clemency Project.
Bob Rauner
MD, MPH, FAAFP
Bob Rauner, MD, MPH, FAAFP works as President of Partnership for a Healthy Nebraska, a 501c3 non-profit organization that focuses on health policy and reducing health disparities. Over the last 12 years he also worked to start two primary care led Accountable Care Organizations, the Southeast Rural Physicians Alliance ACO in 2012 and then OneHealth Nebraska ACO in 2016, where he served as Chief Medical Officer until February 2024. He also currently serves on the board of directors of Lincoln Public Schools and the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations. Bob received his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Creighton University, his medical degree at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and his master of public health degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He started his medical career as a family physician serving rural and underserved communities for 15 years, and then transitioned into health leadership and policy roles after finishing his MPH in 2010. His wife Lisa is also a family physician and they have 3 daughters.
Julie Schilz
Julie Schilz is a Senior Director on the Clinical and Quality Partners team at Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC). She joined PCDC in 2022 to support initiatives focused on Primary Care Integration. Prior to PCDC, Julie held several leadership roles with community, provider and payer organizations developing and implementing strategy focused on value, delivery system reform and primary care transformation. Julie has dedicated her career to working on innovative solutions within health care and communities that are person and family centered with a focus on equity. She has led multiple national, regional, and local improvement initiatives concentrating on innovative interventions for care delivery in the context of community, primary care, and public health. Her experience covers a variety of patient populations including Commercial, Medicaid and Medicare in rural and urban settings. She has provided expert opinion to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations (CMMI), Health Care Payment Learning and Action (HCP LAN), and National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). She currently serves as an Executive Member Liaison for Primary Care Collaborative and is on the Board of Tri-County Public Health Department and Colorado Center for Primary Care Innovation. Julie holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Master of Business Administration from Regis University.
Lauryn Walker
Lauryn is the Chief Strategy Officer for Virginia Center for Health Innovation (VCHI) and co-lead of the Virginia Task Force on Primary Care. Prior to joining VCHI, Lauryn served as the Interim Chief of Population Health and Senior Advisor to the Chief Actuary and Chief Strategy Officer for North Carolina Medicaid, where she focused on reforms to integrate behavioral health and physical health. Lauryn also served as the Senior Advisor for Chief Deputy and Chief Health Economist at Virginia Medicaid, supporting the development of the Office of Value-Based Purchasing (VBP), the Office of Quality and Population Health, and the Office of Data Analytics. Prior to working directly with states, Lauryn conducted Medicaid policy evaluations, and research on Medicaid expansion and financial incentive programs. She also served as a health fellow for the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader. Lauryn is a registered nurse and member of the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps. She earned her nursing degree and MPH from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Advisory Board Alumni
Christine Everett, PhD, MPH, PA-C
Dr. Everett is an Associate Professor in the Physician Assistant (PA) Program in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH) and in the Department of Population Sciences at Duke University. She serves as the Director of the Clinical Research Unit for the DFMCH. Dr. Everett is also a practicing PA at a local non-profit that serves the primary care needs of people recovering from substance abuse and addiction.
Dr. Everett’s research initiatives focus on healthcare team design and the impact on patient, provider, and organizational outcomes. Recent work has focused on defining primary care how they work together, and how they relate to outcomes for patients with diabetes.
Nationally, Christine has served on a range of governmental and non-governmental groups, including the Healthy People 2010 Workgroup, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Primary Care Team Workforce Models Workgroup, and the American Academy of Physician Assistant Research Council. She is currently the Associate Editor for Research for the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
Lisa Kidd
Lisa Kidd, a Philadelphia native, mother and grandmother, parlayed her love of helping others, administrative experience, vast knowledge of resources, and personal experience with type 2 diabetes, into a career as a Community Health Worker. Ms. Kidd provides patients of the University of Pennsylvania Health System that reside in West and Southwest Philadelphia with resources, advocacy, and assistance navigating available services. She is a member of the IMPACT Inpatient Health Care team. Ms. Kidd especially advocates for better management of type 2 diabetes through the correct mix of diet, medications and smarter choices.
