Russell Scott Phillips

Russell Scott Phillips, M.D.

William Applebaum Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School

Russell S. Phillips, M.D., is director of the Center for Primary Care and the William Applebaum Professor of Medicine and professor of Global Health and Social Medicine. He is a devoted primary care general internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) where he cares for more than 250 patients, many of whom he has known for more than 20 years. Within the Center, he leads programs that are transforming education and care systems, developing entirely new approaches to improving primary care and health, and performing research on high performing health systems and practices. He is also researching the impact of changes in payment and primary care practice structure on the finances of primary care practices. He is principal investigator of an AHRQ-funded R18 grant to use system engineering to close the loop on referrals, test results and symptom follow-up in primary care practices, and is principal investigator of a HRSA-funded grant to improve systems in primary care in behavioral health integration, oral health integration, and use of community health workers to address social determinants of care.

At BIDMC, he co-led a task force to improve transitions in care, co-led a working group to develop new sustainable practice models for primary care, and led efforts to develop strategies for care management for high-risk patients to address the triple aim of improved patient experience, population health, and cost reduction.

Dr. Phillips seeks to integrate lessons from global health into innovations for advancing primary care. For more information, see his webpage.

Dr. Phillips’ research focuses on quality of care and patient safety, disparities in care, and innovations to improve quality and value in health care. He uses the methods of clinical epidemiology, health services research, and qualitative research and work collaboratively with research teams that often include health economists, statisticians, and health service researchers.

Patient expectations as predictors of outcome in patients with acute low back pain.
Authors: Authors: Myers SS, Phillips RS, Davis RB, Cherkin DC, Legedza A, Kaptchuk TJ, Hrbek A, Buring JE, Post D, Connelly MT, Eisenberg DM.
J Gen Intern Med
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Ethnic disparities in hospice use among Asian-American and Pacific Islander patients dying with cancer.
Authors: Authors: Ngo-Metzger Q, Phillips RS, McCarthy EP.
J Am Geriatr Soc
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T'ai Chi exercise in patients with chronic heart failure.
Authors: Authors: Yeh GY, Wayne PM, Phillips RS.
Med Sport Sci
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Herbal and dietary supplement--drug interactions in patients with chronic illnesses.
Authors: Authors: Gardiner P, Phillips R, Shaughnessy AF.
Am Fam Physician
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The effect of tai chi exercise on blood pressure: a systematic review.
Authors: Authors: Yeh GY, Wang C, Wayne PM, Phillips RS.
Prev Cardiol
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Factors associated with herb and dietary supplement use by young adults in the United States.
Authors: Authors: Gardiner P, Kemper KJ, Legedza A, Phillips RS.
BMC Complement Altern Med
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Providing high-quality care for limited English proficient patients: the importance of language concordance and interpreter use.
Authors: Authors: Ngo-Metzger Q, Sorkin DH, Phillips RS, Greenfield S, Massagli MP, Clarridge B, Kaplan SH.
J Gen Intern Med
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Effects of ambient air pollution on functional status in patients with chronic congestive heart failure: a repeated-measures study.
Authors: Authors: Wellenius GA, Yeh GY, Coull BA, Suh HH, Phillips RS, Mittleman MA.
Environ Health
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Use of complementary and alternative therapies by Asian Americans. Results from the National Health Interview Survey.
Authors: Authors: Mehta DH, Phillips RS, Davis RB, McCarthy EP.
J Gen Intern Med
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A pilot study for a randomized, controlled trial on the effect of guided imagery in hospitalized medical patients.
Authors: Authors: Toth M, Wolsko PM, Foreman J, Davis RB, Delbanco T, Phillips RS, Huddleston P.
J Altern Complement Med
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