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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.

The gap between estimated incidence of end-stage renal disease and use of therapy.
Authors: Authors: Anand S, Bitton A, Gaziano T.
PLoS One
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Quality and equity of primary care with patient-centered medical homes: results from a national survey.
Authors: Authors: Aysola J, Bitton A, Zaslavsky AM, Ayanian JZ.
Med Care
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The effect of tobacco control measures during a period of rising cardiovascular disease risk in India: a mathematical model of myocardial infarction and stroke.
Authors: Authors: Basu S, Glantz S, Bitton A, Millett C.
PLoS Med
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Off the hamster wheel? Qualitative evaluation of a payment-linked patient-centered medical home (PCMH) pilot.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Schwartz GR, Stewart EE, Henderson DE, Keohane CA, Bates DW, Schiff GD.
Milbank Q
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Health information technology in the era of care delivery reform: to what end?
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Flier LA, Jha AK.
JAMA
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Moving towards more equitable and integrated approaches for tobacco control and non-communicable diseases: invited commentary.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A.
Tob Control
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Youth manifesto on non-communicable diseases.
Authors: Authors: Kishore SP, Siegel KR, Ahmad A, Aitsi-Selmi AA, Ali MK, Baker P, Basu S, Bitton A, Bloomfield GS, Bukhman G, Emery E, Feigl AB, Grepin K, Huffman MD, Kajana K, Khandelwal S, Kolappa K, Liu C, Lokhandwala N, Marwah V, Mwatsama M, Novak N, Nundy S, Park PH, Perez CP, Price MR, Rapkin N, Rice H, Seligman B, Shah S, Silva Jd, Sridhar D, Stuckler D, Vedanthan R, Zaman J.
Glob Heart
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Trans-Disciplinary Education and Training for NCD Prevention and Control.
Authors: Authors: Siegel KR, Kishore SP, Huffman MD, Aitsi-Selmi A, Baker P, Bitton A, Mwatsama M, Ding EL, Feigl AB, Khandelwal S, Rapkin N, Seligman B, Vedanthan R.
Glob Heart
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Regarding the prevention of global chronic disease: academic public health's new frontier.
Authors: Authors: Huffman MD, Siegel KR, Kishore SP, Bitton A.
Am J Public Health
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Improving the delivery of global tobacco control.
Authors: Authors: Bitton A, Green C, Colbert J.
Mt Sinai J Med
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