Puneet Bajaj, M.D. Titles and Appointments Associate Professor Schools Medical School Departments Internal Medicine You have reached the Academic Profile. For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile. Biography Puneet Bajaj, M.D., M.P.H., 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, India and completed residency training at the University of Alabama. His interest in autoimmune diseases led him to receive advanced training in rheumatology through a fellowship program at Stony Brook University in New York. He has been on the faculty of UT Southwestern since 2014. Dr. Bajaj has a special interest in improving quality of care and over the last decade has successfully implemented several department-wide and clinic-level quality improvement projects. He now serves in the capacity of Quality Officer for the Department of Medicine, and co-directs courses for the UT Southwestern Office of Quality, Safety, and Outcomes Education, focused on teaching quality improvement methodology to medical students, trainees, faculty, and staff. In the past, he has been involved with the ACO working on several initiatives related to quality improvement, predictive modeling, and bundled payment to improve patient outcomes through population health management and value-based care. Dr. Bajaj is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). He is the Chair of the ACR Committee on Registries and Health Information Technology (RHIT), and in the past chaired the ACR Research and Publications Subcommittee. He successfully integrated the ACR’s clinical registry, the RISE Registry, at UT Southwestern, one of the first academic institutions in the nation to do so. Outside of medicine, he enjoys spending time with his family and participating in outdoor activities. Education Medical Education Madurai Medical College, India (2001) Other Florida International University (2002), Master of Public Health Other Florida International University (2002), Master of Public Health 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 Research Interest Clinical Quality and Performance Improvement Publications Featured Publications Reduction in the Concomitant Ordering of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and C-Reactive Protein Within a Large Academic Medical Center. Desai R, Zhang R, Shah N, Bacalao M, Galous H, Karp DR, Bajaj P, J Gen Intern Med 2025 May Improving Ambulatory Smoking Cessation Counseling Across a Large Academic Internal Medicine Department. Rose J, Osunjimi A, Madsen K, Dirisala K, Ali S, Shah T, Bajaj P, J Healthc Qual 2025 Apr-Jun 01 47 2 Improving documentation rates of contraception and reproductive planning in rheumatic disease patients. Moon B, Bajaj P, Clowse M, Roberts J, Dao K, Bermas BL, Mills BS, Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2025 Apr Increasing Biosimilar Uptake in Rheumatology Clinics Within a Large Academic Medical Center. Zamir A, Eseddi J, Wishin S, Carmichael D, Bernabela L, Bajaj P, J Clin Rheumatol 2025 Mar Leveraging the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to Develop the American College of Rheumatology's Toolkit for Implementation of Rheumatoid Arthritis Outcome Measures in Clinical Practice: A Qualitative Study. Nasrallah C, Schmajuk G, Hamblin A, Wilson C, Kersey E, Young C, Katz P, Bajaj P, Downey C, Bartels C, Zell J, Danila MI, Ferguson S, Barton JL, DeQuattro K, Yazdany J, Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2024 Aug Impact of pharmacist-driven referral to increase specialty pharmacy prescription capture. Elchehimi S, Blackwell J, Mohiuddin S, Bajaj P, Am J Health Syst Pharm 2024 Mar Enhancing Care Partnerships Using a Rheumatology Dashboard: Bringing Together What Matters Most to Both Patients and Clinicians. Van Citters AD, Taxter AJ, Mathew SD, Lawson E, Eseddi J, Del Gaizo V, Ahmad J, Bajaj P, Courtnay S, Davila L, Donaldson B, Kimura Y, Lee T, Mecchella JN, Nelson EC, Pompa S, Tabussi D, Johnson LC, ACR Open Rheumatol 2023 Apr 5 4 190-200 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 Results 1-10 of 12 1 2 Next Last Honors & Awards D Magazine Best Doctor (2026) APEX Platinum Award in Quality ImprovementUTSW Quality, Safety, and Outcomes Education Office (2024) D Magazine Best Doctor (2022) Teacher of the YearUTSW Division of Rheumatic Diseases (2016) Professional Associations/Affiliations American College of Rheumatology (2011) Dallas County Medical Society (2014) Texas Medical Association (2014)
