Thomas Lee, MD

Dr. Thomas Lee joined Press Ganey as Chief Medical Officer in 2013, bringing more than three decades of experience in health care performance improvement as a practicing physician, a leader in provider organizations, researcher and health policy expert. As CMO, Tom is responsible for developing clinical and operational strategies to help providers across the nation measure and improve the patient experience, with an overarching goal of reducing the suffering of patients as they undergo care, and improving the value of that care. In addition to his role with Press Ganey, Tom, an internist and cardiologist, continues to practice primary care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Prior to joining Press Ganey, Tom served as Network President for Partners Healthcare System and CEO for Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., the integrated delivery system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In this capacity, Tom oversaw efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of care in this organization.

Tom is Chairman of the Board of Geisinger Health Plan, and a Director of Geisinger Health System, a member of the board of directors at Health Leads; the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College; the Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG) of the Veterans Administration; and the Panel of Health Advisors of the Congressional Budget Office. He also serves as a member of the Editorial Board of The New England Journal of Medicine, and the leader of its new initiative on health care delivery, NEJM Catalyst. Tom is a Professor of Medicine, part time, at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Tom played a leadership role in the development and implementation of health care reform in Massachusetts, and was a member of the Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council from 2006 to 2012. He has held national leadership roles in defining and measuring quality of care, including serving on the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from 2008 to 2010 and the Committee on Performance Management of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, which develops the widely-used HEDIS measures; Tom served as co-chair from 2002 to 2009.

Tom frequently lectures on the patient experience and strategies for improving the value of health care, and has authored more than 260 academic articles and three books, Chaos and Organization in Health Care and Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine. In November 2015, Tom released his third book, An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare: How to Deliver Compassionate, Connected Patient Care That Creates a Competitive Advantage, published by McGraw-Hill.

Named in his honor, the Thomas H. Lee Award for Excellence in Primary Care is given each year to recognize a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who meets the needs of his or her patients exceptionally well.

Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in history and science from Harvard College, a medical degree from Cornell University Medical College and a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. He lives in Milton, Mass., with his wife, Dr. Soheyla Gharib, who is Chief of Medicine at Harvard University Health Services. The couple has three daughters.