Robert Wachter

Robert M. Wachter, M.D., is the Holly Smith Distinguished Professor in Science and Medicine and the Benioff Endowed Chair in Hospital Medicine. In 2017, the department was ranked first in the nation by US News & World Report, and it leads the country in NIH grants.

Wachter is author of 250 articles and 6 books. He coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and is often considered the “father” of the hospitalist field, the fastest growing specialty in the history of modern medicine. He is past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and past chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

In the safety and quality arenas, he edits the U.S. government’s leading website on patient safety and has written two books on the subject, including “Internal Bleeding and Understanding Patient Safety,” the world’s best selling safety primer. In 2004, he received the John M. Eisenberg Award, the nation’s top honor in patient safety. For each of the past ten years, Modern Healthcare magazine has ranked him one of the most influential physician-executives in the U.S.; he was #1 on the list in 2015. His 2015 book, “The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age,” was a New York Times science bestseller. He recently chaired a blue ribbon commission advising England’s National Health Service on its digital strategy.