Joshua Liao, M.D.

Biography

Joshua Liao, M.D., M.Sc., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Chief of the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine where he holds the Walter Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine in Honor of Albert D. Roberts, M.D. Dr. Liao also serves as Director of the Program on Policy Evaluation and Learning, where his work focuses on improving health care payment and delivery through policy and practice change.

I’m confident that payment and care delivery policy and programs can be harnessed to improve outcomes and combat health inequities.

Dr. Liao holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from Rice University in Houston, where he also earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and cell biology, which he received magna cum laude. He obtained his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School. He also holds a master's degree in health policy research from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he remains an adjunct senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics in the Wharton School.

Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2024, Dr. Liao served as Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Health Systems in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health within the University’s School of Public Health.

Dr. Liao has provided recommendations about payment models to the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services through his service on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, served on national committees for the American College of Physicians, participated in a payment advisory group for the American Academy of Family Physicians, and worked with state Medicaid programs on payment and delivery policy issues. Previously, he served as an advisor to the American Medical Association's RVU Update Committee.

Dr. Liao founded a nationally recognized policy evaluation unit that became the formal evaluation partner for the Washington Health Care Authority, the largest purchaser of health care services in that state. In that work, Dr. Liao conducted evaluations and analysis to inform decision-makers on health care issues, including primary care delivery and telemedicine.

Dr. Liao also serves as an expert on funding and accountability issues as part of the National Academy of Medicine’s Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation. He has served on national committees for the American College of Physicians, participated in a payment advisory group for the American Academy of Family Physicians, and worked with a number of state Medicaid programs on payment and delivery policy issues.

Dr. Liao has published over 330 articles, including more than 210 in peer-reviewed publications, and has given more than 80 national and international presentations related to his clinical work, policy proposals, and practice transformation. With continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Liao is currently the Principal Investigator or joint PI on grants totaling nearly $11 million.