Barbieri Begins Four-Year PO Chairmanship
Robert L. Barbieri, MD, chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at BWH and the Kate Macy Ladd professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at HMS, in the fall began a four-year term as chairman of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization.
“It’s an honor to serve the membership of the PO as chair of the Board of Trustees,” said Barbieri, who is the third chairman of the PO, following Lawrence Cohn, MD, senior cardiac surgeon, and, most recently, Steven Seltzer, MD, chairman of Radiology.
The BWPO Board of Trustees, which meets six times a year to set the strategic direction for the PO and oversee management of its organizational affairs, funds and other assets, is comprised of 38 voting and non-voting members. The PO corporation consists of approximately 1,200 physicians, 16 clinical departments and 50 medical and surgical specialty areas.
Board trustees include BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, BWPO President Allen Smith, MD, MS, chairs of the hospital’s academic departments, departmental appointees and five lay members. Subcommittees focus on physician compensation issues and nominations for membership, in addition to an executive committee.
“We’ve made tremendous strides in integrating our systems with the care we deliver, and, in coming years, our biggest challenges will be advancing that integration across service lines to ensure our patients receive top-quality care,” Barbieri said.
The BWPO, BWH and all Partners entities are well positioned to respond to growing scrutiny on health care costs and increasing demands for transparency and quality data reporting while improving care delivery. With widespread adoption of electronic medical records and a constant drive towards system-wide synergies, the PO, BWH and PHS are laying the groundwork for team approaches for the delivery of medical care.
“Ultimately, all our departments could integrate along the spectrum of care across multiple sites, putting the individual patient at the center of a true, multidisciplinary team,” Barbieri said. “We’re in a position to balance the best of our historic system while leading the way to effect change.”
Barbieri graduated from Yale University in 1973 and HMS in 1977. He interned and trained at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and BWH, where he was chief resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He completed a clinical and research fellowship in Medicine at MGH and a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology at BWH. From 1990 to 1993, he served as chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospital, SUNY Stony Brook, including two years as vice president of the medical staff there. He returned to BWH and HMS in 1993 as chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Barbieri, whose research interests include reproductive endocrinology with focus on folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis, growth factors in reproductive tissues and maternal-fetal endocrinology, is an NIH-funded investigator and active in many regional and national professional organizations.