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Asaf Bitton, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Associate Professor of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor of Health Care Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

As a practicing primary care physician and health systems innovator, my work centers on improving the measurement and delivery of primary care nationally and globally. I have a particular focus on the implementation and evaluation of new team-based models of primary care delivery, and their associated payment structures. In the past, I studied the epidemiology and control of non-communicable diseases in low and middle income countries, with a focus on global tobacco control.

In addition to my appointments at the Division of General Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, I direct the work at Ariadne Labs for the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (www.phcperformanceinitiative.org). This joint effort with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, along with Results for Development, aims to measure in both traditional and novel ways primary care functions and performance within low and middle income partner countries, with the goal of understanding variation in performance and tailoring improvement initiatives to address performance gaps.

I also serve as a Senior Advisor to the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. This national multi-payer initiative launched in 2012 combines payment reform and practice redesign to transform 474 primary care practices in 8 states over 4 years with the overarching goal of improving quality of care, patient experience, and reducing costs.

I practice primary care medicine and am the Assistant Medical Director at the Brigham and Women’s Advanced Primary Care Associates, South Huntington, a patient-centered medical home practice in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Offering population-based tobacco treatment in a healthcare setting: a randomized controlled trial.
Authors: Authors: Rigotti NA, Bitton A, Kelley JK, Hoeppner BB, Levy DE, Mort E.
Am J Prev Med
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The decisive moment: peril and promise for primary care. Comment on "Primary care utilization and colorectal cancer outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries".
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Frolkis J.
Arch Intern Med
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Projected effects of tobacco smoking on worldwide tuberculosis control: mathematical modelling analysis.
Authors: Authors: Basu S, Stuckler D, Bitton A, Glantz SA.
BMJ
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Relationships of cotinine and self-reported cigarette smoking with hemoglobin A1c in the U.S.: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2008.
Authors: Authors: Clair C, Bitton A, Meigs JB, Rigotti NA.
Diabetes Care
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Who is on the home team? Redefining the relationship between primary and specialty care in the patient-centered medical home.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A.
Med Care
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A comparison of four international surveys of tobacco dependence treatment provision: implications for monitoring the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Raw M, Richards A, McNeill A, Rigotti NA.
Addiction
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The Framingham Heart Study's impact on global risk assessment.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Gaziano TA.
Prog Cardiovasc Dis
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Enabling access to new WHO essential medicines: the case for nicotine replacement therapies.
Authors: Authors: Kishore SP, Bitton A, Cravioto A, Yach D.
Global Health
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E-cigarettes: a rapidly growing Internet phenomenon.
Authors: Authors: Yamin CK, Bitton A, Bates DW.
Ann Intern Med
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A nationwide survey of patient centered medical home demonstration projects.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Martin C, Landon BE.
J Gen Intern Med
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