2022 Annual Meeting

Congratulations to our 2022 AAHCM award winners!

Bob Sowislo Person of the Year Award
Bruce Kinosian, MD

Dr. Kinosian is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the division of Geriatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and a physician in VA’s Home-Based Primary Care Program. Bruce is currently the Board Treasurer for AAHCM and was instrumental in the development of the Independence at Home Demonstration. Recently, he has been a driving force in the creation of the Academy’s High Needs Reach ACO.

He has organized and participated in a number of demonstrations to improve the care of frail elders, helping them live with dignity at home. He serves as faculty with the Independence at Home Learning Collaborative and is the current treasurer of AAHCM. He works closely with two Philadelphia all- inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) programs, and is chair of the National PACE Association Research Committee.

Dr. Kinosian is part of a team that leads a successful Independence at Home practice at the University of Pennsylvania, which is part of the Mid-Atlantic Consortium. Over the past 25 years, the UPenn housecall practice has led an interagency, interdisciplinary team involving the local Area Agency on Aging and home-health agencies, to bring the benefits of integrated long- term services and supports to elders outside of the PACE model of care.

House Call Educator of the Year
Rachel Miller, MD, MSEd

Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She is Vice Chief of Education for the Division of Geriatrics and Core Faculty for the Internal Medicine Residency. Her academic interests focus on transitions of care, interprofessional, and aging education. She serves on multiple national committees focused on aging and home care education. She has led numerous national workshops and published on geriatric educational topics.
Dr. Miller has mentored many medical students, residents and Geriatrics fellows who have since gone into careers in Home Care Medicine. She started a longitudinal secondary primary care clinic in home-based primary care and Geriatrics, which has encouraged many primary care residents to pursue careers in both Geriatrics and Home Care Medicine. Her academic interests focus on transitions of care, interprofessional, and aging education. Dr. Miller truly believes that trainees have the greatest opportunity to learn how to help older adults age in place by seeing patients in their home – meeting them, seeing their environment, and interacting with them and their caregivers. She has dedicated her career to exposing trainees to the field of Home Care Medicine and teaching other educators how to optimize their teaching.

House Call Clinician of the Year
Sarah Paez, MS, GNP-BC, ACHPN

Sara is a Gerontological, hospice and palliative care nurse practitioner with over 15 years of experience in community-based advanced practice nursing, and 7 years of management experience. According to the nomination materials, “Sarah is a special kind of leader who is well-suited to the home care space –she is a persistent advocate for the patient and a creative problem-solver in the face of complex ambiguity. Sarah’s deep experience in home care means she has endless ideas of ways to break through for the patient and interventions that might be better tuned to the patient’s life, preferences, or home.  The best part about Sarah is that she mentors our team to think creatively and stay positive in the way that she does.” Sarah is a committed clinician, educator, and leader who has shaped the careers of numerous clinicians in Home Care Medicine.

Dan Gilden Creative Investigator Award
David Levine, MD, MPH, MA

Dr. Levine is an Associate Physician in General Internal Medicine at BWH and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at HMS. His principal effort at BWH and HMS is in clinical research, with a focus on digital health, the design and evaluation of novel clinical interventions that optimize quality time at home, and the quality and experience of care delivered to adults in the outpatient setting.

According to his nominators, he is an impressive scientist who applies robust scientific process to important and unique real-life problems our society faces. David developed and led the first U.S.-based randomized controlled trials of Hospital at Home that demonstrated that this innovative care model provides high-quality, safe, cost-saving care that provides a better patient and caregiver experience than traditional hospital care. This body of work has helped catalyze a paradigm shift in how we think about caring for acutely ill adults, and he is on a path of changing the way we practice medicine.