Joshua M. Liao, MD, MSc
Dr. Liao is an internal medicine physician at the University of Washington. He is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair for Health Systems in the Department of Medicine in the UW School of Medicine, as well as the Medical Director of Payment Strategy at UW Medicine. He is an an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health in 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 an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Liao has committed his career to improving health care payment and delivery. He works on this mission in several ways, including care delivery system change, scholarship and evaluation, and policy. He provides recommendations about payment models to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services through service on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). Dr. Liao also serves on national committees for the American College of Physicians and a payment advisory group for the American Academy of Family Physicians.
​
Dr. Liao presented at a PTAC Public Meeting about Advancing Equity Through Alternative Payment Models (September 2021; presentation starts at the 44:31 mark)
Dr. Liao has worked with state Medicaid programs on payment and delivery policy issues. Previously, he was an advisor to the American Medical Association's RVU Update Committee (RUC), which provides recommendations to Medicare about how to value physician work when setting payment rates.
​
His scholarship focuses on how systems of financing and delivering care work together with human behavior to affect health outcomes. Equity in payment and care delivery redesign is a key focus of this portfolio, which spans federally funded grants, collaborations, and advocacy work. For instance, Dr. Liao spearheads Health Equity Conversations, a limited series featuring the work of people and groups working to improve equity through payment and other systems change.
​
He has published 300+ articles, including over 180 in peer-reviewed medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Health Affairs, the Annals of internal Medicine, and the British Medical Journal.
Dr. Liao has given over 75 national and international presentations in a range of clinical, policy, and practice transformation forums. His ideas and insights have appeared in outlets such as the Washington Post, Forbes, STAT, the Boston Globe, NPR, Harvard Business Review, the Seattle Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has been interviewed for a number of national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, and the Hill.
Experience
Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee
US Department of Health & Human Services
​
RUC Advisory Committee
American Medical Association
​
Health Care Cost Transparency Board Data Advisory Committee
Washington Health Care Authority
​
Medical Director of Payment Strategy
UW Medicine
​
​Coding & Payment Policy Subcommittee
American College of Physicians
​
Adjunct Senior Fellow
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
In the News
What works and doesn't work to help cure a hangover: HealthLink
King 5 NBC
​
What is the hygiene hypothesis? An explainer: HealthLink
King 5 NBC
​
Public Health Emergency ends — So does Medicaid automatic re-enrollment
Northwest Asian Weekly
​
In Conversation: Joshua Liao MD, Thought Leader & Podcast Host
ActivateCare
​
Expert Panel: Radiologists with MBAs Weigh In on Private Equity's Entree Into Imaging
Radiology Business
​
End of COVID-19 emergency: Be prepared
Northwest Asian Weekly
​
What is Health Equity and Why Does It Matter?
AccessOne
​
Can Amazon change healthcare? Experts sound off on tech giant's $3.9B deal to buy One Medical
GeekWire
​
Where is Radiology with Pay-for-Performance Now? 3 Expert Takes
Radiology Business
​
Hospitals in Low-Income Communities Less Likely to Participate in Bundled Payment Programs
News Medical
​
Is Mandatory Participation in Medicare Demonstrations Necessary?
Health Affairs Forefront
​
Overcoming Barriers to Health Equity
Medical Economics
​
Quality Talks Inspire with Compelling Stories, Big Ideas
National Committee for Quality Assurance
​
5 Steps Payers Should Take When Developing Value-Based Care Plans To Ensure Health Equity
Becker's Payer Issues
​
Dr. Joshua Liao & the Value-Based Bridge to Health Equity
Inside Health Care
National Committee for Quality Assurance
​
National Mask Mandate on Public Transportation Extended Until May 3
KOMO News ABC
​
Some Still Hesitant About Dropping COVID Safety Protocols
KOMO News ABC
​
Unvaccinated Face Greater Risk for Financial Ruin
Northwest Asian Weekly
​
Double Diagnosis Worries Doctors Across the Sound
Kiro 7 CBS
​
Improving HCV Treatment and Screening in Primary Care
ACP Internist
​
Health Systems Science & Physician Payment Models
Leading the Rounds
​
Designing Healthcare Payment Equity
Design Lab Podcast
​
Biden's CMMI Signals New Value-Based Payment Priorities
Modern Healthcare
​
Your Questions about the COVID-19 Vaccine, Answered
Detroit Free Press
​
How To Pay For Equitable Outcomes
Modern Healthcare
​
Got Milk Crates? Why People do Stupid, Dangerous Viral #Challenges
Forbes
​
CMS Needs to Get Beneficiaries Involved in Value-Based Care, Experts Say
Modern Healthcare
​
Foster Business Magazine
​
Pfizer Vaccine Receives Full FDA Approval, Washington Celebrates
Patch
​
Indoor Mask Mandate Set to Return as FDA Nears Approval for Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine
KOMO News ABC
​
Hesitancy in the Age of COVID-19
Northwest Asian Weekly
​
The Spokesman-Review​
​
Job Seekers Face Dramatic 5,000% Increase in Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements Since January
Forbes
​
The Ethics and Equity Questions of Vaccine Passports
Northwest Asian Weekly
​
Coping with Anxiety as Kids Go Back to In Person Learning
Q13 Fox
​
See Mask Guidance and Mandates in Each State
The New York Times
​
Maryland Gave Away $2 Million to Boost Vaccinations. Did it Work?
The Washington Post
​
Here's Where You Should Wear a Mask Indoors Under New CDC Guidance
The Hill
​
Vaccine Incentives: Are Free Doughnuts and Beer the Right Way to Tackle Vaccine Hesitancy?
Smart Company
​
Toward Equity in Value Assessment: Paths Forward
Innovation and Value Initiative
​
Doctor Says More Than Mandates Needed To Encourage COVID Vaccinations
KOMO News ABC
​
CDC Backtracks with New Mask Guidance
The Hill
​
Study Finds No Spending Difference Between Voluntary, Mandated Bundled Payment Programs
Managed Healthcare Executive
​
Young US Adults Among Those with Lowest COVID Vaccination Coverage
MyNorthwest
​
Oregon Now the Most Restrictive State on West Coast When It Comes to Mask Rules
KATU2 ABC
​
"Innovation" is One of Those Words that Sucks Up All the Oxygen (Pt 2)
Buoy Health
​
We Need Health Care Models that Pay for Equity, Not Just "Pay for Performance"
The Lown Institute
​
Will Masks Stick Around Even After the Pandemic Ends?
KATU2 ABC
​
"Innovation" is One of Those Words that Sucks Up All the Oxygen (Pt 1)
Buoy Health
​
Understanding Spending Patterns Among Safety-Net Hospitals
First Report Managed Care
​
Radiology practices must become agile to navigate future COVID-19 peaks and valleys
HealthImaging
​
Direct Contracting Favors New Entrants Over Existing ACOs
Modern Healthcare
​
Shifting payer mix due to COVID-19 putting pressure on radiology practice margins
Radiology Business
​
Physician viewpoint: COVID-19 visitor restrictions may hurt more than they help
Becker's Hospital Review
​
3 strategic tips for radiology practices to emerge stronger from the pandemic
HealthImaging
​
Bundled Payments for Joint Replacements Saved Medicare Money — with No Quality Declines
Skilled Nursing News
​
To Home or SNF? Few Tools and Competing Incentives Make Discharge Decisions Challenging
ACP Hospitalist
​
A "Nudge" in the Right Direction Can Improve Imaging-based Cancer Screening
Radiology Business
​
Calls Mount for CMS to Address​ Problem of Patient Overlap Across Payment Models
Modern Healthcare
​
More Than 15 Percent of Providers Depart BPCI Advanced
Healthcare Financial Management Association
​
Medicare's Value-Based Effort Will Include Specialists
Managed Care
​
"Dear Doctor" Letters Use Peer Pressure, Government Warning to Stop Overprescribing
National Public Radio
​
When Radiologists Speak Up, Follow-Up Imaging Improves
Healthcare Business News
​
Vitals in Redesigning Veterans' Healthcare
UW Medicine Newsroom
​
How a Drugmaker Turned the Abortion Pill into a Rare-Disease Profit Machine
The Washington Post
​
How to Unpack the New Bundled Payment Models from CMS
Burroughs HCN
​
Survey Results Show Risk is in the Eye of the Beholder
Modern Healthcare
​
This All Comes Down to Chickens (iTunes Podcast)
UW Transformer
​
What Works: With MIPS We Just Don't Know Yet
Managed Care
​
What is MIPS? 60% of Doctors Aren't Familiar with Medicare Payment System
Fierce Healthcare
​
Market Trends in Bundled Payments
American Hospital Association
​
Medicare Incentives Could Harm Patient Care
Technology.Org
​
ASQNL