Bio: Louisa Baxter, M.B.Ch.B., a 2009-10 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is a British National Health Service (N.H.S.) hospital doctor; she qualified in 2003 and is midway through her training to become a consultant physician and gastroenterologist. She has previously worked with the N.H.S. Confederation Policy Unit on projects exploring differences in the provision of acute medical care and its ramifications on service design and the development of an evidence-based model of medical leadership. Baxter has written and contributed to several books and peer-reviewed journal articles, and is a third generation N.H.S. employee who was chosen to give the clinician's address at the 60th Anniversary of the Health Service. She holds an M.B.Ch.B. from the University of Manchester and a master's degree in management and governance with a special interest in international health policy from the London School of Economics.
Placement: Thomas Jefferson University
Mentors: Lawrence Casalino, M.D., Ph.D, Cornell Weill School of Public Health; David Nash, M.D., M.B.A., Cornell Weill School of Public Health
Project: Implementing the Patient-Centered Medical Home Model for Chronic Disease in Small Medical Practices: The Role of Practice Culture and Physician Leadership
Description: The aim of Baxter's project was to examine the relationship between small medical practices' culture and their performance on implementing medical home infrastructure. In addition, the study sought to explore the attitudes of physicians in small practices towards the medical home model. She undertook a survey of physicians in small practices that are implementing aspects of the medical home. She also carried out site visits at small practices and interviews with physicians and administrators.