Zeeshan Butt, PhD

Patient-Centered Outcomes

and Behavioral Health Expert

  • Professional Summary

    For the first 15 years of my career, I was on faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where I led
    federally funded studies that improved assessment of patient symptoms and life quality, served as the psychologist forseveral transplant programs, and provided mentorship in research and clinical care.


    In 2021, I was recruited to a healthcare technology company, Phreesia, where I have brought measurement science to scale to help improve the care that hundreds ofthousands of patients receive. I increased the number and variety of patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools in the library, grew the number of clients using PRO solutions, and streamlined custom PRO builds. I led the successful effort to get a PRO-based performance measure into a CMS payment program and spearheaded the workstream that won the re-endorsement of that healthcare quality measure.

     

    I’m used to being the only psychologist in the room and that’s helped hone my ability to communicate our best science to health care leaders, policy makers, and most importantly, to the patients we serve. Across my work in the academy, industry, and in consultation work, my ultimate goal remains the same: to champion the voice of the patients in order to develop empirically-driven, practical, and scalable solutions to improve health care.

  • Leadership Snapshot

     

    Applied Psychological Science to Support Healthcare Quality

    • Led team to successfully include a first-in-class patient-reported outcome - performance measure into the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)
    • Represent APA on the Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) Committee to provide ongoing expertise in the review of measures being considered to assess healthcare quality

    Academic Scholarship and Dissemination

    • Awarded grants and contracts from National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DOD), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and industry partners on research to improve assessment of patient symptoms and quality of life
    • Published over 100 peer-reviewed publications, which have been cited nearly 8000 times (h-index = 49)

    Education and Training

    • Taught graduate level course in survey design and methodology; continue to lead graduate seminar on diversity issues in clinical care
    • Provided supervision in research and clinical care to trainees and faculty

    Clinical Care

    • Served as sole psychologist for kidney, liver, and lung transplant programs
    • Contributed expertise to several clinical practices guidelines and best practices documents focused on organ donation/transplantation and behavioral aspects of surgical procedures

    Awards and Honors (select)

    • 2014, APA Presidential Citation
    • 2016, 2018, named “Outstanding Teacher” by medical school
    • 2021, 2022, Fellow status, Division 5 (Quantitative and Qualitative Methods), Division 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology), and Division 38 (Society for Health Psychology)
    • 2023, Outstanding Mid-Career Psychologist Contributions Award, Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers

     

    (Scroll down to see my full CV.)

  •  

    CV - Zeeshan Butt, PhD (April 2024)

    You can download my full CV for more information on my background and activities.

  • What else am I doing?

    I'm really honored to have been selected to run for a seat on the Board of Directors, American Psychological Association, as a Member-at-Large on the applied psychological science slate.

     

    With focus on applied psychological science, technology, and population health, I am confident in my ability to contribute positively to the APA's mission, vision, and strategic plan. I have significant leadership experience within the APA (summarized below) and in other professional spheres (detailed in my CV). With respect to my leadership style, I have a strong bias for action, but I know from experience that deep listening helps identify solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Over the next few weeks, I'll share here some of my responses to questions I've been asked about my background and qualifications.

     

    APA/APASI Leadership Experience

     

    Current Roles

    • Member, Board of Professional Affairs (BPA)
    • Member, Council of Representatives (representative for Division 38, Society for Health Psychology)
    • Member, Working Group for the Measurement-Based Care Professional Practice Guidelines

    Past Roles include, among other elected and appointed roles:

    • Member/Chair, Committee on Division/APA Relations (CODAPAR)
    • Member, Advocacy Coordinating Committee (ACC)
    • President, Society for Health Psychology (APA Division 38)
    • President, Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APA Division 12, Section VIII)

    Current Endorsements

    • Society for Health Psychology (APA Division 38)
    • Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Division 40)
    • Culture, Ethnicity and Justice Caucus
    • Caucus for the Optimal Utilization of New Talent

    I am asking for your #1 vote to serve psychologists, our field, and our Association. Thank you for your consideration!

  • Campaign Flyer - Member-at-Large, Board of Directors, APA

    This is a one page summary of my background, qualifications, and skills

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