James L. Madara, MD, serves as the CEO and executive vice president of the American Medical Association and adjunct professor of pathology at Northwestern University.

Dr. Madara has helped sculpt the organization’s long-term strategic plan. He also serves as chairman of Health2047 Inc., the wholly-owned innovation subsidiary of the AMA, created to overcome systemic dysfunction in U.S. health care. 

Prior to the AMA, Dr. Madara spent the first 22 years of his career at Harvard Medical School, receiving both clinical and research training, serving as a tenured professor, and as director of the NIH-sponsored Harvard Digestive Diseases Center. Following five years as chair of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University, Dr. Madara served as dean of both biology and medicine, and then as CEO of the University of Chicago Medical Center, unifying the university’s biomedical research, teaching and clinical activities. 

Dr. Madara then served as senior advisor with Leavitt Partners, a health care consulting and private-equity firm founded by former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.

Throughout his career, he has published over 200 original papers and chapters and has served as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Pathology and as president of the American Board of Pathology.

Dr. Madara is consistently named one of the nation’s 50 most influential physician executives and on the nation’s 100 most influential people in health care. Some of his notable awards include the MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, the Davenport Award for lifetime achievement in gastrointestinal disease from the American Physiological Society, and the Mentoring Award for lifetime achievement from the American Gastroenterological Society.

Welcome to Leading the Rounds!

Questions We Asked: 

• What led you to be CEO of the American Medical Association? 
• How did you develop the three arcs of the AMA? 
• What are some targeted things AMA has done to improve physician workflow? 
• What is the goal of Health2047?
• What does the future of medical education look like? 
• How can medical trainees become involved in innovation in healthcare? 
• What are some book suggestions for medical leaders? 

Quotes & Ideas: 

• AMA’s Three Strategic Arcs: 

1. Improving physician satisfaction by removing obstacles that interfere with patient care; 
2. Driving the future of medicine by reimagining medical education, training and lifelong learning and by promoting innovation to tackle the biggest challenges in health care; and 
3. Improving the health of the nation by leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises

• Dr. Madara’s AMA Startup Health2047 AMA launches Silicon Valley integrated innovation company, Health2047
• How the AMA works to support medical trainees: AMA announces new online education hub to support lifelong learning, Accelerating Change in Medical Education
• The three legged educational stool: Clinical Science, Basic Science, and Health Systems Science 
• Establish your own personal guiderales. Dr. Madara’s include: always take the high road and don’t mistake a dropped ball for a conspiracy 

Book Suggestions: 

• Nudge by Richard H. Thaler 
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman