James L. Reinertsen, M.D.
James L. Reinertsen heads The
Reinertsen Group. He brings
to this work an unusual combination of skills and experience:
- He practiced rheumatology for twenty years, earning a
reputation as a superb, patient-centered consultant.
- He has been an admired CEO of complex health care systems
in challenging markets for fifteen years.
- He has functioned as an innovative thought leader in
health care leadership development, clinical quality improvement,
patient safety, health system integration, and health care
market design.
He now brings his skills to clients such as The Institute
for Health Care Improvement, and to senior executives, medical
staff leaders, and Boards of major health care systems in
the United States and Europe. He was a subcommittee member
for the Institute of Medicine’s pivotal reports, To
Err Is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, and continues
to lead and challenge health care thinking both as an author
of papers in major medical journals, and as a provocative,
highly-sought speaker at national forums.
From July 1998 to August, 2001, Dr. Reinertsen was Chief
Executive Officer of both CareGroup, a six hospital, 1400
physician system, and of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,
a teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School. During
that time, he was a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical
School.
Before his engagement at CareGroup, he served as the first
Chief Executive Officer of Park Nicollet Health Services
(formerly HealthSystem Minnesota) in Minneapolis, an integrated
care system that includes Methodist Hospital and Park Nicollet
Clinic. He was President and CEO of Park Nicollet Medical
Center from 1986 to 1992, and President of Park Nicollet
Medical Foundation from 1983 to 1985.
From 1992 to 1997, Dr. Reinertsen was Chairman of the Institute
for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), a collaborative
effort to develop and implement best practices in health
care, sponsored by the Buyers Health Care Action Group, Park
Nicollet, Mayo Clinic, and HealthPartners, a Twin Cities
health plan. ICSI is a nationally recognized example of what
physician groups that otherwise compete with each other can
accomplish when they collaborate around common professional
and business goals.
A frequently invited speaker on these issues for physician,
hospital, and integrated delivery system organizations, he
also has authored more than 40 articles in journals such
as Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal,
New England Journal of Medicine, and the Joint Commission
Journal on Quality Improvement. Dr. Reinertsen is Past President
of the American Medical Group Association, and is a former
member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of
Internal Medicine.
He joined Park Nicollet Medical Center as a consultant in
rheumatology in 1978, following two years as a Clinical Associate
at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
A member of Alpha Omega Alpha, he received his medical degree
from Harvard Medical School in 1973, and completed an internship
at San Francisco General Hospital in 1974, and a residency
at the University of California Hospital in 1976. Doctor
Reinertsen is a 1969 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate
of St.Olaf College in Minnesota.
