Puneet Bajaj, M.D.

Puneet Bajaj, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of the Division of Rheumatic Diseases. Dr. Bajaj received his medical training at Madurai Medical College in India. He then obtained a master’s degree in public health from Florida International University and completed internal medicine residency training at the University of Alabama in Montgomery. He later received advanced training through a fellowship in rheumatology at Stony Brook University in New York.

Dr. Bajaj joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014.

Dr. Bajaj has a special interest in improving the quality of care and has successfully implemented several campus-wide and clinic-level quality improvement projects over the last several years. In the past, he has served as Associate Chief Quality Officer and Associate Chief Medical Officer of Southwestern Health Resources, which is the clinically integrated network supporting patients and providers through UT Southwestern and Texas Health Resources. During his tenure there, he worked on finding innovative ways to improve patient outcomes through value-based care and population health initiatives. Currently, he serves in the capacity of Quality Officer for the Department of Medicine and is actively engaged in several department-wide quality improvement initiatives.

Dr. Bajaj is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology. He is currently a member of its Quality Measures subcommittee, and in the past served as a member of its committee on Registries and Health Information Technology. He successfully integrated the ACR’s clinical registry (RISE registry) at UT Southwestern, which was one of the first academic institutions in the nation to do so.

Personal Note

Outside of medicine, Dr. Bajaj enjoys spending time with his family and participating in outdoor activities.

Medical School

Madurai Medical College, India (2001)

Graduate School

Florida International University (2003), Public Health

Internship

University of Alabama (2005), Internal Medicine

Residency

University of Alabama (2007), Internal Medicine

Fellowship

Stony Brook University Medical Center- (2014), Rheumatology

• Clinical Quality and Performance Improvement

Featured Publications

Implementing a Nurse-Driven Protocol for Pneumococcal Vaccination in an Academic Rheumatology Clinic.

Joerns EK, Pokala N, Bermas B, Reisch J, Wang DC, Arasaratnam R, Bajaj P, J Rheumatol 2022 Nov

A Medical Records Review Study Assessing Safety of Zoster Vaccine Recombinant, Adjuvanted in Patients With Rheumatic Disease.

Gupta S, Arasaratnam RJ, Solow EB, Bajaj P, J Clin Rheumatol 2021 Sep

The Development of the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness Learning Collaborative for Improving Patient-Reported Outcome Collection and Patient-Centered Communication in Adult Rheumatology.

Subash M, Liu LH, DeQuattro K, Choden S, Jacobsohn L, Katz P, Bajaj P, Barton JL, Bartels C, Bermas B, Danila MI, Downey C, Ferguson S, Reiter K, Wahl E, Weinstein E, Zell J, Schmajuk G, Yazdany J, ACR Open Rheumatol 2021 Jul

Coupled Effect of Electronic Medical Record Modifications and Lean Six Sigma Methodology on Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Measurement and Treat-to-Target Outcomes.

Bajaj P, Kollipara U, Koganti R, Wang DC, Chennu N, Bhat D, Mutz J, Willett D, Fish J, Karp D, ACR Open Rheumatol 2021 Mar 3 3 164-172

Assessment of American College of Rheumatology-Endorsed Quality Indicators in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Anderson E, Bajaj P, Raghavan S, Patnaik A, Roppelt H J Clin Rheumatol 2016 Mar 22 2 63-7

• D Magazine Best Doctor
  (2022)
• Teacher of the Year
  UTSW Division of Rheumatic Diseases (2016)

• Dallas County Medical Society (2014)
• Texas Medical Association (2014)
• American College of Rheumatology (2011)