Meet Molla Donaldson

Molla S. Donaldson is president of MSD Health Care Consulting Group and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. She helps design and implement new forms of care delivery that include bioinformatics, health care system design, the incorporation of patient-reported outcomes and treatment summaries in clinical practice.

Donaldson has published 59 peer-reviewed papers, presented widely, and served on 24 advisory panels in health services and outcomes research with a focus on quality of cancer care. She is a reviewer for 11 peer-review journals.

Past experience includes:

• Full time and (current) Adjunct Faculty, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
• Senior Staff Officer, Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences), Washington, DC
• Senior Scientist for Quality of Care Research and Policy, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
• Director, Quality Division, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Education & awards

Dr. Donaldson received her doctorate in health policy from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a Master of Science in developmental biology and genetics from the University of Virginia. She earned a BA from Wellesley College.

In 2006, Donaldson received the University of Michigan's John M. Romani Award for contributions to public health. Other awards include the NIH Director’s Award, 2005, the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award 2000, National Research Council Group Recognition Award, 2000 and the Foundation for Accountability Ellwood Award, 2000.

Publications, advisory groups & presentations

Donaldson is experienced in forming, staffing, and managing work products of national committees including: The National Roundtable on Health Care Quality (IOM); The Quality of Cancer Care Committee (NCI), and The Cancer Quality Alliance (ASCO).

Some recent publications and presentations include:

• Donaldson MS, Gillespie TW, and Lipscomb J. Breast Cancer Treatment: Advances in Care, Economic Impacts, and Implications for Informed Decision Making. For the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making. White Paper, November, 2007.
• Donaldson, M. S. Use of Patient-Reported outcomes in clinical Oncology Practice : A Nonvisit Approach to Patient Care Based on the IOM Report. J Amb Care Medicine 30(4) :302-307, 2007
• Chumbler NR et al. Health Care Utilization among Veterans undergoing Chemotherapy: The Impact of a Cancer Care Coordination/Home-Telehealth Program. J Ambulatory Care Management, JACM 30(4): 308-317, 2007
• Schrag, D and Donaldson, M. "The Cancer Treatment Plan and Summary: Re-Engineering the Culture of Documentation to Facilitate High Quality Cancer Care" (IOM, 2007)
• Donaldson, M.: How Will Emerging Technologies Affect Quality, and How Will We Know? December 2006 NCI Conference on Developing a Health Services Research Agenda on Emerging Cellular Molecular, and Genomic Technologies in Cancer Care, 2007.