JO CAROL HIATT

Jo Carol Hiatt, MD joined the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) as Vice President, Health Economics and Patient Value (HEPV) in October 2020. Her portfolio currently includes two workstreams: Patient Perspective/Risk Tolerance Research (PPR) and Real World Evidence (RWE). Current areas of focus include close collaboration with CMS and FDA to support implementation of the new Medicare Coverage for Innovative Technologies.

Prior to MDIC, Dr. Hiatt was a physician with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group for many years. She led the Kaiser Permanente (KP) National Product Council for nearly 16 years, overseeing more than 80 multi-disciplinary teams responsible for selection of equipment, devices, diagnostic tests, and products used to care for members across the entire program. She also chaired KP’s Inter-Regional New Technologies Committee which provides evidence reviews and technology assessments for new procedures, devices, diagnostic testing, and other non-pharmaceutical clinical interventions including mobile applications.

In 1999, Dr. Hiatt launched and chaired KP Southern California’s Medical Technology Deployment Strategy Team until she retired from the Southern California Medical Group (SCPMG) in 2020. This group is responsible for operational and deployment management of the technology assessment conclusions across KP Southern California. Additional responsibilities as regional assistant medical director in SCPMG included development of regional after hours teleradiology service, trauma surgery repatriation program, regional tele-stroke program with significant improvement in speed to appropriate treatment and reduced long term disabilities, and the development of telehealth capabilities which greatly expanded virtual care options from home to ICU.

Dr. Hiatt served as co-chair of KP’s California Benefits, Contracts, and Policy Committee, responsible for determining coverage of new therapies, possible expansion of coverage such as infertility, and potential associated benefits e.g. travel expenses, most requiring regulatory approval and communication to payors and members. She also represented KP Southern California on the Inter Regional Benefits Design Group for national decisions. In addition, she served two terms on the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee which conducts evidence reviews and public hearings for some Medicare National Coverage decisions. Low dose CT screening for lung cancer is one example.

Dr. Hiatt has had additional roles which leveraged her KP experience: she serves as a reviewer for NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovation and National Heart Lung Blood Institute Reach Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH), and chaired EXCITE International’s Payers’ Advisory Committee. She was a member of FDA’s Payor Communication Task Force and KP’s Venture Management Committee. Dr. Hiatt was also a member of the National Medical Device Evaluation System Planning Board.

Dr. Hiatt joined Kaiser Permanente as a general surgeon at Panorama City. She subsequently served as Chief of Surgery at that location and was elected to the SCPMG Board of Directors. Dr. Hiatt was appointed Regional Assistant Medical Director of Clinical Services, and has since assumed a number of regional and program-wide roles. In 2013 she was designated an American College of Surgeons Health Policy Scholar. Dr. Hiatt received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her medical degree from Duke University. She trained in general surgery at UCLA. In addition to her clinical degree, Dr. Hiatt received an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. She presents frequently on technology assessment integration with value-based decision and implementation processes.