Helen Burstin, MD, MPH

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH is the Senior Vice President for Performance Measures of The National Quality Forum, a private, not-for-profit membership organization established in 1999 to develop and implement a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting. Dr. Burstin joined NQF in January 2007 and is responsible for the NQF consensus development process and projects related to performance measures and practices. Prior to joining NQF, Dr. Burstin was the Director of the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Her center supported the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and an extensive body of research on the intersection of health information technology and quality, primary care and prevention. Prior to joining AHRQ in 2000, Dr. Burstin was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Quality Measurement at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Burstin is a graduate of the State University of New York at Upstate College of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health. She spent a year in Washington, DC as National President of the American Medical Student Association. Dr. Burstin completed a residency in primary care internal medicine at Boston City Hospital. After residency, she completed fellowship training in General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Burstin is the author of over 70 articles and book chapters on patient safety, quality, and disparities. She is a Senior Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University. She serves on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Advisory Committee for the Medicaid Leadership Institute. Dr. Burstin is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). A board certified general internist, Dr. Burstin is a volunteer physician at La Clínica del Pueblo, a federally qualified Latino health center in Washington, DC.