Anil Makam, MD, MAS

Associate Professor

Anil Makam, MD, MAS, is an academic hospital medicine physician and a health services researcher. His research is at the intersection of geriatrics, hospital medicine, and post-acute care, specifically focusing on the role of long-term acute care hospitals (LTACs). His research interest stemmed from his simple observation that Dallas had many LTACs whereas San Francisco had very few, yet he cared for similarly sick and frail hospitalized older adults in both places. His research is funded by an NIA GEMSSTAR grant (2016-2018) and an NIA K23 Career Development Award (2016-2021). Dr. Makam applies health services research and epidemiological methods using Medicare claims, EHR data, and prospective observational cohort data to examine predictors and variation in LTAC use, comparative effectiveness of the LTAC model of care versus alternative care settings, and patterns of recovery for older adults transferred to LTACs.

Dr. Makam is also deeply passionate about evidence-based medicine and critical appraisal of the clinical scientific literature. He published his framework for the practice of EBM in a State-of-the-Art Review article in Circulation. He has also published a number of studies on EBM, high value care, and overuse of common medical practices. Prior to joining the faculty at UCSF, he has had extensive experience teaching EBM and critical appraisal to trainees and faculty.

Dr. Makam’s research has been published in leading medical journals, including JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, BMJ Quality & Safety, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Hospital Medicine; has been cited by the Institute of Medicine and Wikipedia articles; and has been featured in prominent news outlets, including NPR. He has received several research awards, including the New Investigator Award in 2018 by the American Geriatrics Society. He is Co-Director of Academic Development & Research for the Division of Hospital Medicine at Chan Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Nationally, he is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Lastly, he has an active presence on Twitter.
Education
MAS, 2013 - Clinical Research, UCSF
Fellowship, 2013 - Primary Care Research Fellowship, UCSF
Residency, 2010 - Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern
MD, 2007 - Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine
BS, 2003 - Biochemistry, Lehigh University
Honors and Awards
  • New Investigator Award, American Geriatrics Society, 2018
  • (mentor) Research, Innovation, Vignettes (RIV) Competition Honorable Mention in Innovation, Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference, 2018
  • (mentor) Housestaff Research Award Honorable Mention, Hopkins GIM Housestaff Research National Competition, 2017
  • Behavioral Health & Health Services Research Abstract Scholarship, American Thoracic Society, 2016
  • NIH Loan Repayment Program Award, NHLBI, 2014-2018
  • KL2 Clinical and Translational Research Scholar, UT Southwestern Medical Center; NIH/NCATS, 2014-2016
  • Hamolsky Junior Faculty Research Award Finalist (not awarded), SGIM Annual Meeting, 2014
  • Best Research Poster, California-Hawaii Regional SGIM Annual Meeting, 2013
  • Lipkin Award Finalist (not awarded), SGIM Annual Meeting, 2013
  • Best Oral Presentation by Jr. Investigator, Bay Area Clinical Research Symposium, 2012
Publications

  1. Haber LA, Erickson HP, Makam AN. Staying against medical advice. Journal of hospital medicine 2023. PMID: 36975180


  2. Rosenthal MA, Ranji SR, Kanzaria HK, Ortiz GM, Chase J, Chodos AH, Nguyen OK, Rodriguez EG, Makam AN. Characterizing patients hospitalized without an acute care indication: A retrospective cohort study. Journal of hospital medicine 2023. PMID: 36757173


  3. Nikitin D, Makam AN, Suh K, McKenna A, Carlson JJ, Richardson M, Rind DM, Pearson SD. The effectiveness and value of AMX0035 and oral edaravone for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A summary from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review's Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council. Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy 2023. PMID: 36705279


  4. Martin M, Clement J, Defries T, Makam AN, Nguyen OK. Prevalence and Characteristics of Hospitalizations with Unhealthy Alcohol Use in a Safety-Net Hospital from 2016 to 2018. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35060005


  5. Kohn R, Makam AN. Are disruptions to geographic cohorting safe? "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35504584


  6. Bepo L, Makam AN, Nguyen OK. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors Versus Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and the Risk for Cardiovascular Outcomes in Routine Care Patients With Diabetes Across Categories of Cardiovascular Disease. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35038403


  7. Keohane LM, Mart MF, Ely EW, Lai P, Cheng A, Makam AN, Stevenson DG. Establishing Medicaid incentives for liberating nursing home patients from ventilators. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2021. PMID: 34668195


  8. Suen LW, Makam AN, Snyder HR, Repplinger D, Kushel MB, Martin M, Nguyen OK. National Prevalence of Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders Among Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations: NHAMCS 2014-2018. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 34518978


  9. Sumarsono N, Sudore RL, Smith AK, Pantilat SZ, Anderson WG, Makam AN. Availability of Palliative Care in Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2021. PMID: 33965406


  10. Makam AN, Grabowski DC. Policy in Clinical Practice: Choosing Post-Acute Care in the New Decade. Journal of hospital medicine 2021. PMID: 33617438


  11. Schumacher RC, Chiu M, de Leon J, Krause K, Makam AN. Appropriateness of Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Transfer: A Multicenter Study of Medicare ACO Beneficiaries. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2021. PMID: 33617790


  12. Nguyen OK, Washington C, Clark CR, Miller ME, Patel VA, Halm EA, Makam AN. Man vs. Machine: Comparing Physician vs. Electronic Health Record-Based Model Predictions for 30-Day Hospital Readmissions. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 33443694


  13. Brooks KC, Makam AN, Haber LA. Caring for Hospitalized Incarcerated Patients: Physician and Nurse Experience. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 33409890


  14. Nguyen DQ, Ifejika NL, Reistetter TA, Makam AN. Factors Associated with Duration of Rehabilitation Among Older Adults with Prolonged Hospitalization. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020. PMID: 33393088


  15. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Miller ME, Shah SJ, Kapinos KA, Halm EA. Comparative effectiveness of long-term acute care hospital versus skilled nursing facility transfer. BMC health services research 2020. PMID: 33176767


  16. Goyal P, Unlu O, Kennel PJ, Schumacher RC, Gilstrap LG, Krishnaswami A, Allen LA, Maurer MS, Rich MW, Makam A. Inclusion of Performance Parameters and Patient Context in the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Heart Failure. Journal of cardiac failure 2020. PMID: 33065263


  17. Saleh SN, Makam AN, Halm EA, Nguyen OK. Can we predict early 7-day readmissions using a standard 30-day hospital readmission risk prediction model? BMC medical informatics and decision making 2020. PMID: 32933505


  18. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Halm EA. REPLY TO COMMENT ON: THE CLINICAL COURSE AFTER LONG-TERM ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL ADMISSION AMONG OLDER MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2020. PMID: 31903543


  19. Makam AN, Tran T, Miller ME, Xuan L, Nguyen OK, Halm EA. The Clinical Course after Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Admission among Older Medicare Beneficiaries. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019. PMID: 31449686


  20. Schumacher RC, Nguyen OK, Makam AN. Evidence-Based Medicine and the American Thoracic Society Guidelines-Reply. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31260021


  21. Keshvani N, Berger K, Gupta A, DePaola S, Nguyen OK, Makam AN. Improving Respiratory Rate Accuracy in the Hospital: A Quality Improvement Initiative. Journal of hospital medicine 2019. PMID: 31251168


  23. Zhang D, Yang D, Makam AN. Utility of Blood Cultures in Pneumonia. The American journal of medicine 2019. PMID: 30986394


  24. Schumacher RC, Nguyen OK, Desphande K, Makam AN. Evidence-Based Medicine and the American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guidelines. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 30776054


  25. Nguyen OK, Vazquez MA, Charles L, Berger JR, Quiñones H, Fuquay R, Sanders JM, Kapinos KA, Halm EA, Makam AN. Association of Scheduled vs Emergency-Only Dialysis With Health Outcomes and Costs in Undocumented Immigrants With End-stage Renal Disease. Volume 179 of Issue 2. JAMA internal medicine 2019. PMID: 30575859


  26. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Kirby B, Miller ME, Xuan L, Halm EA. Effect of Site-Neutral Payment Policy on Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Use. Volume 66 of Issue 11. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018. PMID: 30281783


  27. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Xuan L, Miller ME, Halm EA. Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Use of Non-Mechanically Ventilated Hospitalized Older Adults. Volume 66 of Issue 11. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2018. PMID: 30295927


  28. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Halm EA. Shortcomings of Research Regarding Long-term Acute Care Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities-Reply. Volume 178 of Issue 6. JAMA internal medicine 2018. PMID: 29868749


  30. Nguyen OK, Higashi RT, Makam AN, Mijares JC, Lee SC. The Influence of Financial Strain on Health Decision-Making. Volume 33 of Issue 4. Journal of general internal medicine 2018. PMID: 29340939


  31. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Xuan L, Miller ME, Goodwin JS, Halm EA. Factors Associated With Variation in Long-term Acute Care Hospital vs Skilled Nursing Facility Use Among Hospitalized Older Adults. Volume 178 of Issue 3. JAMA internal medicine 2018. PMID: 29404575


  32. Smith LN, Makam AN, Darden D, Mayo H, Das SR, Halm EA, Nguyen OK. Acute Myocardial Infarction Readmission Risk Prediction Models: A Systematic Review of Model Performance. Volume 11 of Issue 1. Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes 2018. PMID: 29321135


  33. Chaulk AL, Wang JI, Makam AN. A Depressing Diagnostic Error. Volume 131 of Issue 5. The American journal of medicine 2017. PMID: 29284114


  34. Nguyen OK, Makam AN. What Are the Opportunity Costs of Self-Financing Medical Education? Volume 92 of Issue 12. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2017. PMID: 29210740


  35. Keshvani N, Berger K, Nguyen OK, Makam AN. Roadmap for improving the accuracy of respiratory rate measurements. Volume 27 of Issue 8. BMJ quality & safety 2017. PMID: 29122976


  36. Badawy J, Nguyen OK, Clark C, Halm EA, Makam AN. Is everyone really breathing 20 times a minute? Assessing epidemiology and variation in recorded respiratory rate in hospitalised adults. Volume 26 of Issue 10. BMJ quality & safety 2017. PMID: 28652259


  37. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Clark C, Halm EA. Incidence, Predictors, and Outcomes of Hospital-Acquired Anemia. Volume 12 of Issue 5. Journal of hospital medicine 2017. PMID: 28459899


  38. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Clark C, Zhang S, Xie B, Weinreich M, Mortensen EM, Halm EA. Predicting 30-Day Pneumonia Readmissions Using Electronic Health Record Data. Volume 12 of Issue 4. Journal of hospital medicine 2017. PMID: 28411288


  39. Makam AN, Nguyen OK. An Evidence-Based Medicine Approach to Antihyperglycemic Therapy in Diabetes Mellitus to Overcome Overtreatment. Volume 135 of Issue 2. Circulation 2017. PMID: 28069712


  40. Weinreich M, Nguyen OK, Wang D, Mayo H, Mortensen EM, Halm EA, Makam AN. Predicting the Risk of Readmission in Pneumonia. A Systematic Review of Model Performance. Volume 13 of Issue 9. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2016. PMID: 27299853


  41. Nguyen OK, Makam AN, Clark C, Zhang S, Xie B, Velasco F, Amarasingham R, Halm EA. Vital Signs Are Still Vital: Instability on Discharge and the Risk of Post-Discharge Adverse Outcomes. Volume 32 of Issue 1. Journal of general internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27503438


  42. Nguyen OK, Halm EA, Makam AN. Further Limitations of the HOSPITAL Score in US Hospitals. Volume 176 of Issue 8. JAMA internal medicine 2016. PMID: 27479675


  43. Makam AN, Nguyen OK. Clinical Criteria to Identify Patients With Sepsis. Volume 316 of Issue 4. JAMA 2016. PMID: 27458952


  44. Nguyen OK, Makam AN, Halm EA. National Use of Safety-Net Clinics for Primary Care among Adults with Non-Medicaid Insurance in the United States. Volume 11 of Issue 3. PloS one 2016. PMID: 27027617


  45. Nguyen OK, Makam AN, Clark C, Zhang S, Xie B, Velasco F, Amarasingham R, Halm EA. Predicting all-cause readmissions using electronic health record data from the entire hospitalization: Model development and comparison. Volume 11 of Issue 7. Journal of hospital medicine 2016. PMID: 26929062


  46. Nguyen OK, Halm EA, Makam AN. Relationship between hospital financial performance and publicly reported outcomes. Volume 11 of Issue 7. Journal of hospital medicine 2016. PMID: 26929094


  47. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Zhou J, Ottenbacher KJ, Halm EA. Trends in Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Use in Texas from 2002-2011. Volume 2 of Issue 3. Annals of gerontology and geriatric research 2015. PMID: 26702452


  48. Nguyen LT, Sullivan CT, Makam AN. The Diagnostic Cascade of Incidental Findings: A Teachable Moment. Volume 175 of Issue 7. JAMA internal medicine 2015. PMID: 25938592


  49. Makam AN, Steinman MA. Response to Einhorn and colleagues. Volume 63 of Issue 5. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2015. PMID: 25989580


  50. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Auerbach AD. Diagnostic accuracy and effectiveness of automated electronic sepsis alert systems: A systematic review. Volume 10 of Issue 6. Journal of hospital medicine 2015. PMID: 25758641


  51. Makam AN, Nguyen OK. Use of cardiac biomarker testing in the emergency department. Volume 175 of Issue 1. JAMA internal medicine 2015. PMID: 25401720


  52. Nguyen OK, Chan CV, Makam A, Stieglitz H, Amarasingham R. Envisioning a social-health information exchange as a platform to support a patient-centered medical neighborhood: a feasibility study. Volume 30 of Issue 1. Journal of general internal medicine 2014. PMID: 25092009


  53. Makam AN, Boscardin WJ, Miao Y, Steinman MA. Risk of thiazide-induced metabolic adverse events in older adults. Volume 62 of Issue 6. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014. PMID: 24823661


  54. Makam AN, Auerbach AD, Steinman MA. Blood culture use in the emergency department in patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia. Volume 174 of Issue 5. JAMA internal medicine 2014. PMID: 24614986


  55. Makam AN, Auerbach AD, Steinman MA. Blood culture use in the emergency department in patients hospitalized with respiratory symptoms due to a nonpneumonia illness. Volume 9 of Issue 8. Journal of hospital medicine 2014. PMID: 24753399


  56. Oresanya L, Makam AN, Belkin M, Moneta GL, Conte MS. Factors associated with primary vein graft occlusion in a multicenter trial with mandated ultrasound surveillance. Volume 59 of Issue 4. Journal of vascular surgery 2013. PMID: 24361199


  57. Makam AN, Lanham HJ, Batchelor K, Moran B, Howell-Stampley T, Kirk L, Cherukuri M, Samal L, Santini N, Leykum LK, Halm EA. The good, the bad and the early adopters: providers' attitudes about a common, commercial EHR. Volume 20 of Issue 1. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice 2013. PMID: 23962319


  58. Makam AN, Lanham HJ, Batchelor K, Samal L, Moran B, Howell-Stampley T, Kirk L, Cherukuri M, Santini N, Leykum LK, Halm EA. Use and satisfaction with key functions of a common commercial electronic health record: a survey of primary care providers. Volume 13. BMC medical informatics and decision making 2013. PMID: 24070335


  59. Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Moore B, Ma Y, Amarasingham R. Identifying patients with diabetes and the earliest date of diagnosis in real time: an electronic health record case-finding algorithm. Volume 13. BMC medical informatics and decision making 2013. PMID: 23915139