Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP
President and Founder
About Dr. Amy Boutwell
Dr. Boutwell works at the intersection of excellence in clinical care, public policy, and delivery system transformation to achieve value-based care outcomes. As a practicing physician, trained in public policy and system-level process improvement at Intermountain Health Care, shaped by voluntary experiences with homeless families in SLC, underserved schools in East Palo Alto, the destitute and dying in Calcutta, the marginalized "slums" of San Salvador, sex workers and solicitors in Boston, HIV infected inmates in Rhode Island, her own panel of HIV patients at MGH, populations at risk of readmission nationally, and high utilizers of the acute care setting, Dr. Boutwell conveys her life-long commitment to improving the ways in which we use our talents, resources, and time to improve care for all, including and especially the most vulnerable. Dr. Boutwell served as the inaugural Director of Health Policy Strategy at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Cambridge, MA until the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and in 2011 founded Collaborative Healthcare Strategies to pursue work aligned with the delivery system transformation policy objectives of the ACA. Dr. Boutwell is a graduate of Stanford, Brown Medical School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, from which she was honored to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service and served as a Boston Schweitzer Fellow. Dr. Boutwell is a board-certified internist, trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she attended on the teaching service until 2016. Dr. Boutwell has continuously practiced medicine over the past decade of leading delivery system transformation initiatives - lending not only practical credibility, but also infuses her coaching style - as many note - to be laser focused on-point and her style "no-nonsense." This is particularly effective with providers and clinicians of all types, including administrative, operational, IT, data, physician, and nursing executives.
Awards
- Trailblazer Award, RISE National (formerly the Dr. Martin L. Block Award)
- American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award
- Harvard Kennedy School Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service
Inform. Inspire. Catalyze Action.
Over the past 15 years, I've had the opportunity to inform, inspire, and motivate thousands of people at hundreds of events. Whether you are an agency, association, corporation, health system, provider group, ACO, health plan, community organization, or technical assistance contractor, if you are working to improve value, our goals and message are aligned.
Why I Became a Speaker
I became a speaker because that is part of the job of leading healthcare transformation. As the Director of Health Policy Strategy at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, I was asked to develop a state-wide strategy to reduce hospitalizations, taking the state as the unit of interest. The opportunities for systems improvement existed, but the stakeholders did not work together. Some didn't know each other. Others pointed fingers at each other. To transform care at the state level required convening. And to convene, we needed to articulate our shared problem. With data. And to align, we needed a shared vision. Something global enough to be comfortable, but organized enough to be productive. That was STAAR. Speaking - for the purposes of informing, inspiring, motivating and catalyzing action - in other words, for the purposes of transforming care - was the job. And because I learned how to inform, inspire, motivate and align, I became a leader.
For Event Planners
I speak about transforming healthcare delivery from the perspective of a physician uniquely trained to work at the intersection of excellence in clinical care, healthcare system redesign, and public policy. The applications of this topic evolve as the field evolves. I speak on a variety of topics including leading large-scale change, transforming care, high-value care, impacting structural and systemic inequity in healthcare systems, engaging cross-continuum collaboration, current insights about care transformation, and more. I present keynotes and workshops for audiences of all sizes. Please let us know what you're working on and how we can support you in a successful and engaging event!
Speaking Impact
“Thank you so much for being a great speaker for our Care Transitions Collaborative. We received a lot of positive feedback and the hospitals are so excited to begin the work.”
“We want you to participate in both collaboratives. YOU are why a lot of people are participating…YOU are the draw! Like meeting a celebrity!”
“Just wanted to take a minute to thank you for an amazing event. Your knowledge, insight and expertise have been so well received and I already see a difference in practice in some of our case managers and social workers. I so appreciate you and look forward to our continued collaboration - you are truly an inspiration!”
“This was exceptionally worthwhile. I appreciated the small group size, the relatively short agenda which was very well facilitated by Dr. Boutwell”
“Always an inspiring, fact based, data driven and optimistic message! Your passion for effective and patient centered transformation is contagious!”
“Wow – you exceeded my expectations! Outstanding.”
“data + compassion = great results; loved the presentation!”
“You are amazingly inspirational!”
“Great presentation. Data driven - simple to understand - effective. Thank you”
“I wanted to let you know that you come highly recommended from our executive team and we are positive you will be an excellent fit for this year’s Summit.”
“Glowing feedback from Mississippi”
“We received a 9.90-wow! This is the highest score to date. Great job!”
“Well, ND LOVES YOU. They are absolutely thrilled with your webinar presentations to the Rural CAH hospitals!!!!”
“Thank you for joining us yesterday and for your excellent presentation. Our members are always so inspired by your pragmatic approach to tackling challenging issues. You are truly their favorite speaker!”
“The sign of a great presentation is when they are still talking about it a week later.”
“On behalf of the NYSPFP team, thank you for all the work you both put into the Care Partner Event. 100 % of our members in the room at GNYHA, scored the event as Excellent in all categories. We appreciate your efforts so much.”
“Dr. Boutwell, Thanks so much for sharing your expertise the way you did on today’s Webinar! You are a delight to work with.”
“Thanks for doing such a fantastic job at the event last week! You once again hit a home run bringing to the forefront the reason behind the work we do... patient centric approaches to healthcare redesign. Thanks for being you and for doing such great work. Your passion and enthusiasm for systematic change is contagious! Keep in touch and know you're appreciated!”
“Thank you for the wonderful webinar! You did an outstanding job in explaining our entire concept and program. Just smiling ear to ear here today!”
“Amy Boutwell is a wonderful presenter. I really enjoy her programs and find them all to be very resourceful.”
“Dr. Boutwell, Thank you for your outstanding presentation yesterday at our PPS Summit. It was the presentation attendees have most raved about; they have noted the sharp evidence-based focus of your work, your passion for not allowing dysfunction to continue, and your compassion for both the patients and the professionals caught in the revolving door of care delivered to high-utilizers. I know the teams that are working with you on the MAX projects especially appreciated the time for more interaction with you and that others who have not been involved with MAX are now thinking how they might implement something similar in their setting.”
“This number is amazing! I am so excited that we can reach so many, I wanted to give you credit for the amazing job you are doing! The approach you take in your instruction is very easy to follow and the interactive piece is so beneficial. I think the “word” of how beneficial this is from the previous webinars has spread, and we are seeing that with the registration numbers! Great Job!”
“Dr. Boutwell, I cannot thank you enough for your presentation today! Not only was it concise and well-moderated, it was practical, solution-oriented and a great kickoff to the year. The teams left impressed with the content and approach and are ready to focus on very specific attainable actions.”
“On behalf of my team, I wanted to reach out and say Thank you for yesterday! Your presentation was amazing! The passion for your work shows and is contagious.”
“Dr. Boutwell, great workshop yesterday. I have never seen hands raise so quickly on ANY Zoom session.”
“Thank you for your presentation on Reducing SNF Readmissions. There were 359 participants that called in and no drop offs for the entire hour! It was a great jump start for our collaborative and has catalyzed action for rolling out to other hospital/SNF pairings within the state. I hope to work with you again sometime.”
“I would like to personally thank you for your outstanding presentation to the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) Conference. Judging from the comments of those who attended, the conference was a huge success!”
“This morning the HRET PMs received data on our weekly YouTube hits…2 of the readmissions whiteboard series sessions are amongst our top viewed content this week. In addition, the percent of the video viewed is quite high in comparison to our other videos. Way to go! I watched “Understanding Human Causes,” got hooked, and watched a few. Dr. Boutwell is a great presenter, and I think this short, focused format is great. I love these!”
“I heard wonderful things about your sessions yesterday just as expected! Thank you again for a wonderful time of sharing. Thank you once again for an excellent session and I hope to work with you again in the near future!”
“The training you provided was exactly what we had been looking for, and the feedback from the teams has been wonderful. They all came away from the day with concrete actionable steps and a much better understanding of the work at hand.”
“We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the presentation you delivered.”
“I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know how much amazing feedback we are receiving following your presentation at the Care Coordination Conference on Wednesday. Numerous attendees have taken the time to reach out and express how appreciative they were to everything you spoke to. I think we’ve got an inspired group here!”
“I just gotta say, you ROCK! We love your passion and energy!”
“I appreciated Dr. Boutwell's no nonsense approach to reducing readmissions. I really appreciated the drive and enthusiasm she shared with her ASPIRE program. The best part was the push of getting to know your patients and applying a personal touch rather than cookie-cutter care.”
“Dr Boutwell is wonderful! Her knowledge and enthusiasm is worth every minute of listening to her. I would like to see continued involvement with her!”
“I just wanted to let you know the Cross Continuum webinar today was absolutely wonderfully informative.”
“Our compliments to Dr. Boutwell she nailed the content and exceeded our expectations!”