Alice Chen, MD

Professor of Clinical Medicine
Medicine
+1 628 206-4049

Alice Hm Chen, MD, MPH is chief health officer at Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to transforming the health of the communities it serves, one person at a time. At Centene, she is responsible for implementing strategies, policies and programs that improve population health for its more than 28 million members. Her career has focused on advancing the health of under-resourced communities through patient care, teaching, policy and leadership across health systems, public health, philanthropy, academia and government.

Prior to joining Centene Dr. Chen worked for the State of California, as chief medical officer at Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and as deputy secretary for policy and planning at the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS). At Covered California she was responsible for health care strategy focused on quality, equity and delivery system transformation, and was instrumental in driving public purchaser alignment on quality, disparities and investments in primary care. At CHHS she led many of the Agency’s signature health policy initiatives on affordability and access, and played a leadership role in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of strategic reopening, hospital surge planning, equity, data analytics and therapeutics.

She previously served as chief integration officer for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and founding director of the eConsult program before becoming inaugural chief medical officer and deputy director for the San Francisco Health Network, the city’s $2 billion-a-year publicly funded integrated delivery system. A professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) for fifteen years, she has published extensively, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Health Affairs. Dr. Chen has served on the board of several nonprofits and foundations, and currently serves on the Harvard University Board of Overseers.

A graduate of Yale University, Stanford University Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Chen's training includes a primary care internal medicine residency and chief residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is an alumna of the Commonwealth Fund Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Her academic appointments include clinical professor of medicine at UCSF, senior scholar at Stanford’s Clinical Excellence Research Center, and affiliate faculty at UCSF’s Institute for Health Policy Studies.

2023 HCC Champion, Health Career Connection, 2023
50 Most Influential Clinical Executives, Modern Healthcare, 2023
Telehealth Champion of the Year, California Telehealth Policy Coalition, 2020
Invited Member, Women of Impact, 2019
Annual Leadership Award, San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, 2016
Health Innovators Fellow, Aspen Institute, 2015
Safety Net Award for Using Health Information Technology to Advance Performance Improvement, National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, 2010
John F. Murray Award for academic excellence and dedication to the humanitarian mission of SFGH, University of California San Francisco SFGH Department of Medicine, 2008
Award for Improvement in System-Wide Care Integration, California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, 2007
Award for Innovation in Health Care Service Delivery, San Francisco Health Plan, 2007
Richard J. Haber Excellence in Teaching Award, University of California San Francisco, SFGH Division of General Internal Medicine, 2006
Soros Physician Advocacy Fellow, Institute on Medicine as a Profession, 2003
Annual Service Award, Emergency Room Interpreter Law Advisory Committee, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2001
Arnold C. Dunne Award for Compassionate Patient Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, 1997
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1996
Publications: 

The Path to Coordinated Federal Leadership to Strengthen Primary Health Care

Milbank Memorial Fund

Phillips RL,
Koller C,
Chen AH

To Advance A National Health And Equity Infrastructure, Measure Drivers of Health

Health Affairs Forefront

Agrawal S, Chen AH, Price G, Perla R.

Equity Metrics: Toward A More Effective And Inclusive Pandemic Response

Health Affairs Blog

Shete, PB
Vargo, J
Chen, AH
Bibbins-Domingo, K

What if the Role of Healthcare Was to Maximize Health?

Journal of general internal medicine

Chen AH, Chin MH

Frequent Emergency Department Users: Focusing Solely On Medical Utilization Misses The Whole Person.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Kanzaria HK, Niedzwiecki M, Cawley CL, Chapman C, Sabbagh SH, Riggs E, Chen AH, Martinez MX, Raven MC

Evaluating diverse electronic consultation programs with a common framework.

BMC health services research

Tuot DS, Liddy C, Vimalananda VG, Pecina J, Murphy EJ, Keely E, Simon SR, North F, Orlander JD, Chen AH

Specialty Care Access in the Safety Net-the Role of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.

Journal of health care for the poor and underserved

Makaroun LK, Bowman C, Duan K, Handley N, Wheeler DJ, Pierluissi E, Chen AH

Out-of-Network Emergency Department Use among Managed Medicaid Beneficiaries.

Health services research

Raven MC, Guzman D, Chen AH, Kornak J, Kushel M

Minding the Gaps: Assessing Communication Outcomes of Electronic Preconsultation Exchange.

Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety

Price EL, Sewell JL, Chen AH, Sarkar U

Displaying radiation exposure and cost information at order entry for outpatient diagnostic imaging: a strategy to inform clinician ordering.

BMJ quality & safety

Kruger JF, Chen AH, Rybkin A, Leeds K, Guzman D, Vittinghoff E, Goldman LE

Facilitators and barriers to implementing electronic referral and/or consultation systems: a qualitative study of 16 health organizations.

BMC health services research

Tuot DS, Leeds K, Murphy EJ, Sarkar U, Lyles CR, Mekonnen T, Chen AH

Efficiency Gains for Rheumatology Consultation Using a Novel Electronic Referral System in a Safety-Net Health Setting.

Arthritis care & research

Scheibe MM, Imboden JB, Schmajuk G, Margaretten M, Graf JD, Chen AH, Yelin EH, Yazdany J

Leveraging an electronic referral system to build a medical neighborhood.

Healthcare (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Tuot DS, Murphy EJ, McCulloch CE, Leeds K, Chan E, Chen AH

Changes in research on language barriers in health care since 2003: A cross-sectional review study.

International journal of nursing studies

Schwei RJ, Del Pozo S, Agger-Gupta N, Alvarado-Little W, Bagchi A, Chen AH, Diamond L, Gany F, Wong D, Jacobs EA

Electronic Preconsultation as a Method of Quality Improvement for Urological Referrals

Urology Practice

McGeady JB, Blaschko SD, Brajtbord JS, Sewell JL, Chen AH, Breyer BN

Assessment of HBV preventive services in a medically underserved Asian and Pacific Islander population using provider and patient data.

Journal of general internal medicine

Mukhtar NA, Toy BC, Burman BE, Yu A, Chen AH, Berman P, Nguyen T, Chan D, Hammer H, McCulloch CE, Khalili M

Increasing access to specialty care: patient discharges from a gastroenterology clinic.

The American journal of managed care

Tuot DS, Sewell JL, Day L, Leeds K, Chen AH

Electronic Preconsultation as a Method of Quality Improvement for Urological Referrals.

Urology Practice

McGeady JB, Blaschko SD, Brajtbord JS, Sewell JL, Chen AH, Breyer BN

"Choosing wisely" in an academic department of medicine.

American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality

Hines JZ, Sewell JL, Sehgal NL, Moriates C, Horton CK, Chen AH

A randomized, controlled trial to increase discussion of breast cancer in primary care.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Kaplan CP, Livaudais-Toman J, Tice JA, Kerlikowske K, Gregorich SE, Pérez-Stable EJ, Pasick RJ, Chen A, Quinn J, Karliner LS

Clinician perspectives on considering radiation exposure to patients when ordering imaging tests: a qualitative study.

BMJ quality & safety

Kruger JF, Chen AH, Rybkin A, Leeds K, Frosch DL, Goldman LE

Expanding the Universal Medication Schedule: a patient-centred approach.

BMJ open

Bailey SC, Wolf MS, Lopez A, Russell A, Chen AH, Schillinger D, Moy G, Sarkar U

Clinicians' views on displaying cost information to increase clinician cost-consciousness.

The American journal of managed care

Kruger JF, Chen AH, Rybkin A, Leeds K, Frosch DL, Goldman E

Hepatitis B management in vulnerable populations: gaps in disease monitoring and opportunities for improved care.

Digestive diseases and sciences

Burman BE, Mukhtar NA, Toy BC, Nguyen TT, Chen AH, Yu A, Berman P, Hammer H, Chan D, McCulloch CE, Khalili M

eReferral--a new model for integrated care.

The New England journal of medicine

Chen AH, Murphy EJ, Yee HF

A brief, low-cost intervention improves the quality of ambulatory gastroenterology consultation notes.

The American journal of medicine

Sewell JL, Day LW, Tuot DS, Alvarez R, Yu A, Chen AH

Preconsultation exchange for ambulatory hepatology consultations.

The American journal of medicine

Sewell JL, Guy J, Kwon A, Chen AH, Yee HF

Setting clinical priorities: a framework for incorporating individual patient preferences.

Patient education and counseling

Dowdy D, Bishai D, Chen AH

The un-managed system of Medicare referrals.

Journal of general internal medicine

Chen AH, Rittenhouse D

Evaluation of language concordant, patient-centered drug label instructions.

Journal of general internal medicine

Bailey SC, Sarkar U, Chen AH, Schillinger D, Wolf MS

Foreign language assessment and training in U.S. medical education is a must.

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

Tucker JD, Chen AH, Glass RI

Developing multilingual prescription instructions for patients with limited english proficiency.

Journal of health care for the poor and underserved

Bailey SC, Hasnain-Wynia R, Chen AH, Sarkar U, Schoua-Glusberg A, Lindquist LA, Schillinger D, Wolf MS

Implementation of an electronic referral system for outpatient specialty care.

AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium

Straus SG, Chen AH, Yee H, Kushel MB, Bell DS

Patient Follow-up in an Urban Resident Continuity Clinic: An Initiative to Improve Scheduling Practices.

Journal of graduate medical education

Dowdy DW, Horton CK, Lau B, Ferrer R, Chen AH

Evaluating electronic referrals for specialty care at a public hospital.

Journal of general internal medicine

Kim-Hwang JE, Chen AH, Bell DS, Guzman D, Yee HF, Kushel MB

Practice profile. A safety-net system gains efficiencies through 'eReferrals' to specialists.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Chen AH, Kushel MB, Grumbach K, Yee HF

Not perfect, but better: primary care providers' experiences with electronic referrals in a safety net health system.

Journal of general internal medicine

Kim Y, Chen AH, Keith E, Yee HF, Kushel MB

The legal framework for language access in healthcare settings: Title VI and beyond.

Journal of general internal medicine

Chen AH, Youdelman MK, Brooks J

Providing care to patients who speak limited English

Medical Management of Vulnerable and Underserved Patients: Principles, Practice, and Populations. Editors: Talmadge King, Margaret Wheeler, Andy Bindman, Alicia Fernandez, Kevin Grumbach, Dean Schillinger, and Teresa Villela

Chen AH, Jacobs E

Insights into the problems that language barriers may pose for the medical interview.

Journal of general internal medicine

Hardt E, Jacobs EA, Chen A

Effect of awareness of language law on language access in the health care setting.

Journal of general internal medicine

Grubbs V, Chen AH, Bindman AB, Vittinghoff E, Fernandez A

Doctoring across the language divide.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Chen A

Case studies in multicultural medicine and health disparities

Multicultural Medicine and Health Disparities. Editors: David Satcher and Rubens Pamies

Smith WR, Bussey-Jones J, Horowitz CR, Whitehurst-Cook M, Chen, AH

The need for more research on language barriers in health care: a proposed research agenda.

The Milbank quarterly

Jacobs E, Chen AH, Karliner LS, Agger-Gupta N, Mutha S

Effects of limited English proficiency and physician language on health care comprehension.

Journal of general internal medicine

Wilson E, Chen AH, Grumbach K, Wang F, Fernandez A

Literacy and language: disentangling measures of access, utilization, and quality.

Journal of general internal medicine

Schillinger D, Chen AH

Reasons for outpatient referrals from generalists to specialists.

Journal of general internal medicine

Donohoe MT, Kravitz RL, Wheeler DB, Chandra R, Chen A, Humphries N

Airway reactivity in welders: a controlled prospective cohort study.

Journal of occupational and environmental medicine

Beckett WS, Pace PE, Sferlazza SJ, Perlman GD, Chen AH, Xu XP

Gender-associated differences in emergency department pain management.

Annals of emergency medicine

Raftery KA, Smith-Coggins R, Chen AH