Alisa B. Busch, MD, MS, is an assistant professor of psychiatry and of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital. She was recently promoted to be the Director of Integration of Clinical Measurement and Health Services Research at McLean Hospital. Prior to that, she was a Physician-in-Charge at the McLean Hospital Addiction Partial Hospital Program.
Dr. Busch’s research focuses on measuring and improving mental health treatment quality on a system-wide level. She blends her clinical expertise with health services research methodologies, resulting in innovative mental health research that is feasibly carried out in systems of care and large populations, but that is also clinically nuanced and relevant. Dr. Busch is currently the recipient of an NIMH K01 award examining Quality of Care for Bipolar Disorder. She has served as a principal investigator in grants from the MacArthur Foundation.

Several of her studies have been well cited. One such study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, examined the effect of a managed behavioral health carve-out on treatment quality for persons with schizophrenia in a state Medicaid program. Another study examining patient characteristics associated with bipolar disorder prescribing was published in Psychopharmacology Bulletin and selected for publication on Medscape as well. On Medscape, this study was ranked the second most read study by psychiatrists for February 2009. She is also first author of a widely cited review of seclusion and restraint practices published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. Recognizing her expertise in this subject, she was asked to be the Editor of the Special Section on Seclusion and Restraint for the journal Psychiatric Services.

Dr. Busch is a past recipient of the McLean Hospital Maria-Lorenz Pope Fellowship Award and Alfred Pope Award for Young Investigators, as well as being a past Scholar in the Alcohol Medical Scholars Program. She currently serves as a Network Member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Qualifications of Professionals Providing Mental Health Counseling Services under TRICARE.

Learn more about Dr. Busch's work by reading the following news brief: 5/5/09.