Michael K. Ong, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor in Residence of Medicine & Health Policy and Management at UCLA. He is Chief of the Hospitalist Division at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Dr. Ong is a practicing general internist. His research interests focus on improving the delivery of appropriate and efficient health care by general internal medicine physicians. His research has applied this focus in several areas of general medicine, including hospital-based care, mental health, and tobacco control. Dr. Ong co-directs the new Stakeholder-Partnered Implementation Research and Innovation Translation (SPIRIT) Learning Health System (LHS) Center of Excellence in LHS Researcher Training funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. He co-leads the BreatheWell and ResearchWell Pods for the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center at UCLA. Dr. Ong is currently Chair of the State of California Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee. Dr. Ong is one of the contributors to the upcoming 2018 Surgeon General’s report on Smoking Cessation. Dr. Ong was the principal investigator of the BEAT-HF (Better Effectiveness After Transition – Heart Failure) study, one of twelve comparative effectiveness clinical trials funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as part of its Clinical and Health Outcomes Initiative in Comparative Effectiveness (CHOICE) portfolio. This $9.9 million 3-year randomized, clinical trial compares the effectiveness of a three part intervention, which combines improved inpatient discharge activities with centralized nurse-led health coaching and wireless remote home monitoring to reduce heart failure (HF) readmissions among patients hospitalized at six different health systems – the five University of California (UC) Health Systems, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was the Principal Investigator for the hospital to community transition project supported by the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative Care Coordination Program and the VA Patient Safety Center of Inquiry, and was the academic co-leader for the community engagement intervention based in the Hollywood-Downtown community for the Community Partners in Care study. Dr. Ong has also been active in multi-center studies. He led the Innovation Evaluation Committee for the University of California Center for Health Quality and Innovation (CHQI), where he was responsible for the evaluation of the 50 projects funded by CHQI at the five UC Health Systems as well as other special projects. Dr. Ong was the Director for UCLA Connected Health, which oversaw all telemedicine, telehealth, and mHealth activities for the UCLA Health System. Dr. Ong was a RWJF Physician Faculty Scholar (2009–2012 Cohort).
