Fogla is new vice chair of Family Medicine

Dr. Sumit Fogla, a family medicine physician who specializes in obesity medicine, is the new vice chair for clinical operations and quality in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Fogla will also serve as medical director of the Family Medicine Center at MCG and its primary teaching affiliate, AU Health System.

In his new role, Fogla, a strong advocate of patient- and family-centered care, will oversee the delivery of health care in the Family Medicine Center by utilizing those care principles as well as population health and evidence-based medicine. He will work to ensure access to the center’s services; ensure the scope of services provided there meet the primary care needs of the patient population; and lead and assist in improving clinic workflow, scheduling and productivity.

He comes to MCG from the Family Medicine Department at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Michigan, where he served as medical director of the Beaumont Weight Control Center. He also served as program director and medical director for the Beaumont Family Medicine Residency Program, Gross Pointe, and was a board member for the Beaumont Quality Initiative Committee.

He is an expert in quality improvement based on the principles of value-based care, a form of reimbursement that ties payments for care delivery to the quality of care provided, rewarding providers for both efficiency and effectiveness; lean management, a philosophy based on the ideas that you should deliver value from your customer’s perspective, eliminate waste and have continuous improvement; and patient-centered medical homes, a care delivery model where all patient treatment is coordinated through the primary care physician.

Fogla’s clinical research is focused on chronic disease management and his clinical interests are diabetes and obesity medicine, chronic diseases, preventive care and inpatient family medicine.

His work has been published both regionally and nationally.

He earned his medical degree from the University of Mumbai and completed his family medicine residency at Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center. He earned an executive master’s degree in business administration/health care from Oakland University’s School of Business Administration and has participated in fellowships from the American Board of Obesity Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians and the National Institute of Program Director Development.