Edward H. Wagner, MD, MPH
Director, MacColl Center
and GHRI Senior Investigator
206-287-2877
wagner.e@ghc.org
Recent publications
Curriculum vitae (CV)
Research interests and experience
- Chronic illness management: diabetes care; collaborative approaches to transforming health care systems; management
- Cancer control: quality of life
- Aging & geriatrics: senior care management
Patients and health care systems worldwide have benefited from Edward Wagner's commitment to transforming health care. Best known for innovations in chronic illness care, Dr. Wagner's work spans a range of topics in health services research and produces results that consistently enhance our nation's capacity for health systems change.
Translating evidence-based methods of improving care into practice is the tie that binds Dr. Wagner's investigations in preventive medicine, geriatrics, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Another common thread is collaboration—between researchers and health care teams and between health care teams and patients. Under his leadership, several projects, initiatives, and organizations aimed at improving care have sprung up and flourished.
Group Health Research Institute's founding director, Dr. Wagner established its MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation in 1992, launching a new effort to move advances in quality improvement research into practice. He and his team developed and disseminated the Chronic Care Model (CCM), an evidence-based framework for health care that delivers safe, effective, and collaborative care to patients.
The CCM is widely recognized for its capacity to guide health care teams in caring for chronically ill patients. Funded as a national program by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Dr. Wagner, Improving Chronic Illness Care (ICIC) introduced the Chronic Care Model to a wide spectrum of organizations, ranging from Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to individual health care practices of all sizes and types.
Dr. Wagner also serves as principal investigator for the Cancer Research Network CRN, a National Cancer Institute-funded consortium of 14 health-plan-based research organizations. The CRN is part of the HMO Research Network, a larger alliance of health care delivery organizations with sophisticated research capabilities that he helped establish in 1996.
Dr. Wagner's professional service is extensive. Locally, he served as co-chair of the task force that led to the creation of the Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA), he now participates in its quality improvement committee. PSHA is a regional multi-stakeholder collaboration committed to improving health care quality and reducing costs in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2007, Dr. Wagner received the Health Quality Award from the National Committee for Quality Insurance (NCQA) and was elected into the IOM. A longstanding champion of patient-centered care, he was also honored in 2007 with the Picker Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Patient-Centered Care—for advocating that respecting patients' values and preferences be central to chronic illness care. He received the Founders' Award from the American College of Medical Quality in 2010. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of North Carolina.
Dr. Wagner has authored two books and more than 250 publications. He serves on the editorial boards of Health Services Research, the British Medical Journal and the Journal of Cancer Survivorship. He is also a professor of health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
Related information:
- Chronic Care Model (CCM)
- Cancer Research Network (CRN)
- HMO Research Network (HMORN)
- Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA)
- Institute of Medicine (IOM)
- UW School of Public Health
Recent publications
Lin EH, Von Korff M, Ciechanowski P, Peterson D, Ludman EJ, Rutter CM, Oliver M, Young BA, Gensichen J, McGregor M, McCulloch DK, Wagner EH, Katon WJ. Treatment adjustment and medication adherence for complex patients with diabetes, heart disease, and depression: a randomized controlled trial. Ann Fam Med. 2012;10(1):6-14. PubMed
Wagner EH. Counterpoint: chronic illness and primary care. Med Care. 2011;49(11):973-5. PubMed
Horner K, Wagner E, Tufano J. Electronic consultations between primary and specialty care clinicians: early insights. Issue Brief. 2011;23:1-14. PubMed
Gabbay RA, Bailit MH, Mauger DT, Wagner EH, Siminerio L. Multipayer patient-centered medical home implementation guided by the Chronic Care Model. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2011;37(6):265-73. PubMed
Clauser SB, Wagner EH, Aiello Bowles EJ, Tuzzio L, Greene SM. Improving modern cancer care through information technology. Am J Prev Med. 2011;40(5 Suppl 2):S198-207. PubMed
McCorkle R, Ercolano E, Lazenby M, Schulman-Green D, Schilling LS, Lorig K, Wagner EH. Self-management: enabling and empowering patients living with cancer as a chronic illness. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011;61(1):50-62. Epub 2011 Jan 4. PubMed
Wagner EH, Aiello Bowles EJ, Tuzzio L, Wiese CJ, Kirlin B, Greene SM, Clauser SB. The quality of cancer patient experience: perspectives of patients, family members, providers, and experts. Qual Saf Health Care. 2010 Dec;19(6):484-9.
Horner K, Wagner E, Bowles EA, Kirlin B, Tuzzio L. Ps3-29: the benefits of stakeholder involvement in research. Clin Med Res. 2010;8(3-4):201. PubMed
Feigelson H, Bischoff K, Bowles E, Engel J, James T, Onitilo A, Single R, Williams A, Wagner E, McCahill L. PS2-24: improving breast cancer surgery quality through a collaborative surgical database. Clin Med Res. 2010;8(3-4):180. PubMed
Battersby M, Von Korff M, Schaefer J, Davis C, Ludman E, Greene SM, Parkerton M, Wagner EH. Twelve evidence-based principles for implementing self-management support in primary care. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2010; 36:561-70.
To view more publications, please see Dr. Wagner's CV.