Apr. 28, 2011 (Business Wire) -- In recognition of his significant contributions to the field of health services research, Edward H. Wagner, MD, MPH, has been named the 2011 recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research. The Prize, funded by The Baxter International Foundation and managed by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), will be awarded on June 25, 2011, at the AUPHA Annual Meeting in Charleston, S.C.
Dr. Wagner founded the Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) in 1983, a non-proprietary, public-domain research institution within the Group Health healthcare system. As director until 1998, Dr. Wagner's commitment to scientific inquiry led the GHRI's mission to improve healthcare through leading-edge research, innovation, and dissemination. In 1992, he established GHRI's MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation, which he still directs, where his team developed the Chronic Care Model, an evidence-based framework that seeks to improve the delivery of safe, effective, and collaborative care to patients. He is also the principal investigator for the Cancer Research Network, a National Cancer Institute-funded consortium of 14 health-plan-based research organizations.
A professor of health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Dr. Wagner is best known for his work in chronic illness management, cancer care, and the aging and geriatric populations. Recognized as a champion of patient-centered care, Dr. Wagner has received numerous honors and awards and has authored more than 250 publications.
"Dr. Wagner provides innovation and excellence in everything he does. Through his Chronic Care Model, Dr. Wagner is still transforming the role of chronic illness care in health and health services delivery," said Kyle Grazier, DrPH, University of Michigan professor, and Graham Prize Selection Committee chair. "His extraordinary leadership is evident in the research and policy centers he has created throughout the past 30 years to study evidence-based management and clinical practice, to teach future clinicians and investigators, and to implement integrated healthcare across the life span. Dr. Wagner truly deserves this year's prestigious William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research."
Dr. Wagner received his MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, and his MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Medicine.
"The prior recipients of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research include the most distinguished scientists in our field. I am honored and humbled to be included with them, and grateful to the many research and clinical colleagues who have contributed so much to our work," said Dr. Wagner.