Dr Bigby was a panelist for the Forum’s discussion on The Boston Marathon Bombings.
JudyAnn Bigby, M.D. served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She will be leading an eight-week independent study group called Lessons in Leadership: Developing a Population Based Approach to Health and Human Services Delivery.
As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Bigby was responsible for implementing many aspects of the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform law. Massachusetts achieved a nation leading health insurance coverage rate of 98% of adults and 99.8% of children. Dr. Bigby worked to achieve higher quality of health care and better health for Massachusetts residents while leading Governor Deval Patrick’s efforts to address the high cost of health care. Her efforts have made the Commonwealth of Massachusetts one of the nation’s leading states in forging efforts to reform health care delivery systems to build a strong primary care foundation, integrate service delivery, and reform payment based on outcomes including for the most vulnerable populations with disabilities, chronic mental illness, and the frail elderly. Prior to her appointment as Secretary, Dr. Bigby served as the Director of Community Health Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and as the Director of the Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School. She has pioneered work to eliminate health disparities among low-income and minority women through the design of clinical programs, education of health professionals, and community based research in areas such as breast and cervical cancer mortality. She practiced primary care internal medicine, specializing in women’s health, for more than 25 years. Dr. Bigby is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Quality Forum. In 2011 President Obama appointed her as one of the inaugural members of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health of the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council. Dr. Bigby holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MD from Harvard Medical School.
