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Matthew Nielsen, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Urology, will serve as Chair of the American Urological Association Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committee 2019-2022


Matthew Nielsen, MD, MS
Matthew Nielsen, MD, MS

Matthew Nielsen, Associate Professor of Urology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy & Management, begins his three-year term as Chair of the American Urological Association’s Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) Committee this year.  The QIPS Committee, in the AUA’s Science and Quality Council, is charged with the mission to foster quality urologic care through the development of quality improvement initiatives such as developing and testing physician performance measures, implementing initiatives on patient safety and other important issues of concern to promote the highest standards of urologic care while guarding patient safety.

Dr. Nielsen has been a member of the QIPS committee since 2013 and was Chair-elect this past year. In this period, the committee developed and disseminated AUA’s Choosing Wisely Statements, convened multidisciplinary stakeholders in Quality Improvement Summits focused on Shared Decision Making, Stewardship of Medical Imaging, and Stewardship of Opioids, and published a series of White Papers on Improving Surgical Outcomes across the continuum of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care.  Also during this period, QIPS supported the development and stewardship of quality measures for use in the AUA’s Qualified Clinical Data Registry, AQUA. Alongside his work with the AUA, he has served the American College of Physicians as a consultant to the High-Value Care Task Force and as a member of the Performance Measurement Committee.

“I’m honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue working with QIPS at an important inflection point.  With the maturation and success of the AQUA registry, we have exceptional opportunities to bring people together regionally and nationally around the vision of measuring to improve.”

Dr. Matthew Nielsen

At home in Chapel Hill, he maintains an active clinical practice and was Director of the Division of Urologic Oncology from 2013-2018. His research program involves local and national collaborations through his appointment as a Clinical Investigator in the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. Nielsen also serves the UNC Health Care System in a variety of roles, including Associate Director of the Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI). He joined the UNC faculty in 2009 after completing medical school and residency training at Johns Hopkins.