Massachusetts General Hospital

BiographyDr. Atlas received his MD degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a master's degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. He trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and completed a fellowship in general medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Atlas is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician in the General Medicine Division at MGH where he is a practicing primary care physician. He is the Director of the primary care practice-based research and quality network at MGH. He is also a medical editor at the not-for-profit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.

ResearchDr. Atlas is a National Institutes of Health/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded investigator and his research broadly includes outcome research and quality improvement with content emphasis on low back disorders, preventive services, and adult primary care. He is actively involved in translating findings from clinical research to improve the quality and efficiency of care. A key aspect of this work is the implementation of health information technology into the workflow of health care providers, practices and networks.

Patient-Physician "Connectedness" Affects Quality of Care

A new study finds that patients who are connected to a specific primary care physician are more likely to receive guideline-consistent care than those who are connected to a practice but not a physician.

Workers' Compensation Patients Get Less Benefit from Back Surgery

Surgery provides better results than nonsurgical treatment for most patients with back pain related to a herniated disk - but not for those receiving workers' compensation for work-related injuries, according to a study in the journal Spine.

What makes patients complex? Ask their primary care physicians

Being able to define and measure patient complexity has important implications for how care is organized, how physicians and health care systems are paid, and how resources are allocated. A study by MGH researchers finds that primary care physicians define patient complexity using more factors than are used in common approaches.