Bruce D. Agins, MD, MPH, is an infectious disease physician and public health professional with over 25 years of experience in the design, oversight, and evaluation of government-led healthcare quality management programs. As Medical Director of the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, Dr. Agins served as the principal architect of the world’s first HIV-specific quality management program, a model that has since been implemented throughout the United States as part of the nation’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. During his tenure at the New York State Department of Health, Dr. Agins was responsible for the HIV Clinical Guidelines Program, managed at Johns Hopkins University Division of Infectious Diseases, which oversaw development of practice guidelines for HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections. He was also responsible for the strategic direction of clinical and non-clinical education programs. Since 2002, Dr. Agins has directed HEALTHQUAL, a capacity-building initiative whose aim is to support the development of sustainable quality management programs in Ministries of Health. Through HEALTHQUAL, Dr. Agins has provided expert guidance and support in over 15 countries across 5 continents, supporting Ministries of Health in development of guidelines and quality indicators, design and management of large-scale improvement initiatives, engagement of private-sector stakeholders in government-led efforts to improve healthcare quality, and involvement of patients and communities in quality management activities. Dr. Agins is an active member of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare, a past faculty member of the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the author of numerous peer-reviewed abstracts and publications on the implementation of quality management programs and initiatives in high-, middle-, and low-income contexts. Dr. Agins is currently Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Director of HEALTHQUAL in the Institute for Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where he lectures on the intersection of quality management and public health, and participates in Institute-wide efforts to improve healthcare quality globally.
