Dhruv Kazi, MD, MS

Associate Prof of Clin Med

Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine, Center for Vulnerable Populations, General Internal Medicine ZSFG

I am a general cardiologist and a cardiovascular health economist interested in understanding and improving long-term clinical outcomes among patients with cardiovascular disease in the United States and overseas.

My recent work has involved the evaluation of novel diagnostic approaches, genetic testing, medical devices, and drug therapy, and has included the use of simulation modeling and advanced statistical techniques for large observational datasets (Medicare, Kaiser, National Inpatient Sample).

I am particularly interested in the optimization of health care expenditures to maximize societal value. For instance, how does one determine the “best” use for scarce resources when considering alternative diagnostic or therapeutic strategies for a given disease or a range of commonly encountered diseases? Rather than viewing optimization as a zero-sum game, can we develop creative ways (for instance, by exploring synergies within the system or using low-cost technologies) to enhance productivity and expand the pie?

I co-founded heartMAP – a low-cost, data-driven program focused on improving medication adherence among low-literacy patients with advanced cardiovascular disease. heartMAP harnesses technology and real-time data analysis to treat and track patients on anticoagulation, using incentives for stakeholder behavior modification. We are partnering with Narayana Hospitals in Bangalore, India, a pioneer in using industrial systems design to dramatically reduce the cost of cardiovascular surgery, and the Center for Chronic Disease Control in New Delhi, India’s leading private-public partnership for research in non-communicable diseases. See www.heart-map.org for more information.

I aspire to leverage my dual training in cardiology and health economics to help ensure that our investments in healthcare represent true societal value. My clinical training has spanned four continents and included three large safety-net hospitals, three VAs and four quaternary care centers; and my research training has been at two of the world’s leading departments of health policy and health economics. I am confident that the breadth of my clinical and research experiences enables me to provide quality, compassionate health care to my patients, even as I strive to improve the system that delivers it.