Gregory Postel, MD, CEO and chairman of the board of UofL Physicians, has been nominated for the Physician of the Year Award.

A Quick Look

Married and am the proud father of 5-year-old twin boys, Postel loves to travel, run, play tennis and play the piano.  Over the years, Postel has been active on the boards of the Louisville Orchestra and the Louisville Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.  He is currently an active member of the board of Passport, and has been involved in finding ways to better serve the state’s Medicaid population.

Gregory Postel, MD

How have you improved the accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare in our region?

For the past six years, I have been principally involved in the creation of a startup company, University of Louisville Physicians. Historically, the medical practices of the faculty of the UofL School of Medicine operated as many separate groups.  The chairs of the departments within the School of Medicine realized we could benefit from a consolidated business organization, learning from each other and providing better delivery of care to the community. A business plan was created, infrastructure was developed and consensus was achieved, and for the first time in the school’s 182-year history, all of its physicians began operating as one patient care organization. I served as founding chairman of the board and today, in addition to continuing in that role, I also serve as CEO.

How will the results of this initiative impact the healthcare community?

As a result of this work, we were able to launch University of Louisville Physicians in July 2011. Now 2,000 employees strong, 700 of which are doctors, UofL Physicians is the largest adult and pediatric medical and surgical multi-specialty practice in the region. By working together as one organization, we offer the community a continuum of care, and physicians can easily collaborate and offer state-of-the-art treatment to patients.  As researchers and teachers, we now bring the entire strength of the UofL School of Medicine and many of its world-renowned physicians to every patient we treat through this consolidated, patient-driven approach.

We currently offer care in more than 110 locations, and are continuing to expand to new areas, making it easier for patients to get care closer to home. We also have several outreach programs for patients with specialized needs or who are not able to travel to one of our locations. We are the largest Medicaid provider in the region and work closely with each patient to assist them to get care no matter their financial situation. 

In what ways will you be able to measure the success of these efforts? 

Through our integrated electronic health records and clinical information system, we are developing detailed metrics to enable us to measure and track progress as it relates to our system performance and patient outcomes. This information also allows us to interface more effectively with partner organizations and understand ways to eliminate gaps in care.