Joshua Liao, M.D.

Joshua Liao, M.D., M.Sc., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Division of General Internal Medicine. He 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.

Dr. Liao earned bachelor's degrees magna cum laude in English literature, biochemistry and cell biology from Rice University. He obtained his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Societies. He completed internal medicine residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School and completed the Management and Leadership Track. He holds a master's degree in health policy research from the University of Pennsylvania, 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 Chair for Health Systems in the Department of Medicine and Enterprise Medical Director of Payment Strategy at the University of Washington, with an appointment in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health within the School of Public Health.

In Washington, 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 the state. In that work, Dr. Liao conducted evaluations, analysis, and briefings to inform decision-makers on health care issues, including primary care delivery and telemedicine. He is confident that payment and care delivery policy and programs can be harnessed to improve outcomes and combat health inequities.

A national leader in health systems, policy, and care delivery, Dr. Liao has provided recommendations on these topics to the US Congress through service on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and to the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services through service on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee. He is the first person in history to be appointed to both expert groups. 

Dr. Liao has served 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 participated on national advisories for the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association's RVU Update Committee, and advised state policymakers on payment and delivery policy issues.

An accomplished scholar, 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 has served as PI on grants totaling over $15 million.