David W. Baker, MD, MPH, FACP is the Executive Vice President for Healthcare Quality Evaluation and Improvement at The Joint Commission in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Dr. Baker leads the development of healthcare quality evaluation tools, including performance measures, standards (including National Patient Safety Goals), and survey methods for all Joint Commission accreditation and certification programs. He also oversees the Standards Interpretation Group, the Office of Quality and Patient Safety, and the Department of Research. Dr. Baker also serves as the Joint Commission’s primary representative for many national bodies involved with quality measurement and improvement.

Before assuming his current position, Dr. Baker was the Michael A. Gertz Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University from 2002-2015.

Since joining The Joint Commission in 2015, Dr. Baker has led their efforts to address some of the most difficult issues in healthcare, including pain management, the opioid epidemic, overuse of antibiotics, healthcare-acquired infections, suicide prevention, maternal mortality and morbidity, workplace violence, healthcare equity, and many others. In addition, he led development of several new programs, including Assisted Living Community accreditation, and certification programs for Thrombectomy-capable Stroke Centers, Heart Attack Centers, Advanced Hip and Knee Replacement, and Advanced Spine Surgery. Since 2016, Dr. Baker has also served as Editor-in-Chief for the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. Dr. Baker has published over 275 original research articles and book chapters and has won numerous awards for his work.

Dr. Baker is a graduate of the UCLA School of Medicine and the UCLA School of Public Health. He also completed a research and policy fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at UCLA.