One thing Jonathan Efron says he has enjoyed about holding leadership positions within Johns Hopkins has been the ability to craft collaborative care models across Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). Now he continues that work, in the new role of senior vice president of the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians (OJHP). The office coordinates the activities of all JHM physicians systemwide.
“I work with a great group of colleagues,” Efron says. “The OJHP brings people together from disparate parts of the organization to see how we can better facilitate patient care and improve clinical outcomes.”
A highly regarded colorectal surgeon with a clinical focus in colon and rectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, Efron joined the Johns Hopkins faculty 10 years ago. He also serves as chief of surgery for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians (JHCP); executive vice director for the Department of Surgery; and the Mark M. Ravitch, M.D., Endowed Professor in Gastrointestinal Surgery. At OJHP, he succeeds William Baumgartner, who has retired from the OJHP role but remains vice dean of clinical affairs for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Among the tasks Efron has jumped into is looking at whether JHM should partner with federally qualified health centers and investigating whether the establishment of a JHM clinically integrated network would be of benefit to patients and physicians. In addition, he says, “we are constantly working toward better improving the flow of patients and clinical resources among all of the JHM entities. We are examining new methods of providing primary care and population management, and we are helping align physician strategies with the hospitals and care management organizations within JHM.”
Borrowing an analogy from Landon King, executive vice president of the school of medicine, Efron says he views the OJHP as the connective tissue between the medical school, individual physician groups, ambulatory sites, the hospitals and Johns Hopkins HealthCare. “The OJHP is also the enzymatic catalyst for change.”
Efron’s experience developing innovative care delivery strategies and commitment to engaging patients will be invaluable assets in furthering the OJHP’s mission, says Dean/CEO Paul Rothman, “to advance new, innovative care models and coordinate the clinical activities of faculty, JHCP, and community and aligned physicians across Johns Hopkins Medicine.”
A Baltimore native, Efron earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery at North Shore University Hospital and a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Florida, where he then joined the faculty. From there, Efron became an associate professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Arizona before coming to Johns Hopkins.
