Anil Makam, MD, MAS

Anil Makam, MD, MAS, is a hospital medicine physician and a health services and policy researcher. His research is at the intersection of hospital medicine, geriatrics, and post-acute care, specifically focusing on the role of long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). His research interest stemmed from his observation that Dallas had many LTACHs whereas San Francisco had very few, yet he cared for similarly sick and frail hospitalized older adults in both places. His research has been funded by the NIA and the Donaghue Foundation. Dr. Makam applies health services research and epidemiological methods using Medicare claims, EHR data, and prospective observational cohort data to examine predictors and variation in LTACH use, comparative effectiveness of the LTACH model of care, and patterns and prognosis of recovery for older adults transferred to LTACHs, including a national multicenter COVID19 recovery cohort called RAFT COVID.

Dr. Makam also studies outcomes, utilization, and prognostication for other common conditions experienced by hospitalized adults including pneumonia, sepsis, acute coronary syndrome, end stage kidney disease, and diabetes; as well as the quality and the complications of inpatient medicine, such as hospital-acquired anemia, readmissions, vital signs, and core populations of safety net hospitals, including uninsured individuals, addiction medicine, jail health, and undocumented immigrants.

Dr. Makam is also deeply passionate about mentorship, evidence-based medicine and critical appraisal of the clinical scientific literature. He has published his framework for the practice of EBM as a State-of-the-Art review article in Circulation. He has also published a number of studies on EBM, high value care, and overuse of common medical practices. He has had extensive experience teaching EBM and critical appraisal to trainees and faculty members. At UCSF he is the Co-Director of the CTSI K-Grant Writing Workshop, an Inquiry Advisor for the School of Medicine, and Co-Director of Academic Development & Research for the Division of Hospital Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. Nationally he peer reviews for leading medical journals and MedPAC reports to Congress, was an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hospital Medicine (2015-2023), and is an Evidence Author consultant for the Institute of Clinical and Economic Review, a leading voice in assessing the value of medical innovations. Lastly, he has an active presence on Twitter.

Dr. Makam’s research has been published in leading medical journals, including JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, BMJ Quality & Safety has been cited by the Institute of Medicine and Wikipedia articles; and has been featured in prominent news outlets, including the New York Times. He has received several research awards, including the Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine Who are Focused on the Care of Older Adults by the American Geriatrics Society.