Matt Austin, Ph.D., M.S.

John Matthew Austin, Ph.D., M.S.

Headshot of Matt Austin
  • Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

Research Interests

Quality improvement and patient safety performance measurement; transparency of quality data driving improvements in care delivery; measuring disparities in the quality of care; measuring diagnostic performance of hospitals. ...read more

Background

Dr. Matt Austin is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on performance measurement in health care. Dr. Austin is a principal faculty member at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.

His current research interests include understanding the role of transparency of quality and safety data in driving improvements in care delivery, measuring disparities in the quality of care, and measuring the diagnostic performance of hospitals.

Dr. Austin currently provides strategic guidance to The Leapfrog Group on performance measures for their annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey, Hospital Safety Grade, and Ambulatory Surgery Center Survey. 

He has served as a member of the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Scientific Methods Panel since 2017, reviewing the reliability and validity testing for measures submitted to NQF for endorsement.

Dr. Austin earned his Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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Titles

  • Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • B.S.E.; University of Michigan (Michigan) (1995)
  • M.S.; University of Wisconsin (Wisconsin) (2007)
  • Ph.D.; University of Wisconsin (Wisconsin) (2011)

Research & Publications

Research Summary

Dr. Austin’s research broadly focuses on performance measurement in health care. His research has included the development of a composite score for patient safety in hospitals, analyzing the level of agreement and disagreement across multiple national hospital rating systems, researching how performance measures can be used to drive and sustain internal quality improvements within health care organizations, and how an oversight model could strengthen current quality and safety reporting efforts. Dr. Austin’s current research interests include understanding the role of transparency of quality and safety data in driving improvements in care delivery, measuring disparities in the quality of care, and measuring the diagnostic performance of hospitals.

His work has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, The Commonwealth Fund, AARP, The Leapfrog Group, and the Cautious Patient Foundation.

Dr. Austin has published in a variety of journals including Health Affairs, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Health Services Research, Academic Medicine, BMJ Quality and Safety, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, and American Journal of Medical Quality.

Selected Publications

Austin JM, D'Andrea G, Birkmeyer JD, Leape LL, Milstein A, Pronovost PJ, Romano PS, Singer SJ, Vogus TJ, Wachter RM. “Safety in numbers: the development of Leapfrog's composite patient safety score for U.S. hospitals.” J Patient Saf. 2014 Mar;10(1):64-71. doi: 10.1097/PTS.0b013e3182952644.

Austin JM, Jha AK, Romano PS, Singer SJ, Vogus TJ, Wachter RM, Pronovost PJ. National Hospital Ratings Systems Share Few Common Scores And May Generate Confusion Instead Of Clarity. Health Aff (Millwood). 2015;34(3):423-30.

Austin JM, McGlynn EA, Pronovost PJ. Fostering Transparency in Outcomes, Quality, Safety, and Costs. JAMA. 2016;316(16):1661-1662.

Austin JM, Kachalia A. The state of health care quality measurement in the era of COVID-19: the importance of doing better. JAMA. 2020 Jul;324(4):333-334.

Nerenz DR, Austin JM, Deutscher D, Maddox KEJ, Nuccio EJ, Teigland C, Weinhandl E, Glance LG. Adjusting Quality Measures For Social Risk Factors Can Promote Equity In Health Care. Health Aff (Millwood). 2021 Apr;40(4):637-644.

Contact for Research Inquiries

Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality
750 E. Pratt Street
1527
Baltimore, MD 21202 map
Phone: 410-637-6263

Email me

Activities & Honors

Professional Activities

  • Principal Faculty, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, 2012
  • Co-Director, Applied Applied Master of Science Program in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2018
  • Panel Member, National Quality Forum Scientific Methods Panel, 2017

Videos & Media

Recent News Articles and Media Coverage

Safety in Numbers, US News & World Report (June 21, 2017)

What’s a Patient To Do When Hospital Ratings Disagree?, National Public Radio (March 4, 2015)

Hospital Rating Systems Differ on Best and Worst, The New York Times (March 2, 2015)

National Hospital Rating Systems Show Little Agreement – What’s A Consumer To Do?, WTOP Radio (March 11, 2015)

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