Megan M. Koepke, MHA, named Secretary of ABIM Board of Directors
ABIM is pleased to announce that Megan M. Koepke, MHA, has been named Secretary of the ABIM Board of Directors effective July 27, 2024. Ms. Koepke is a seasoned leader both in government and the private sector, leading strategy and implementation of population health and value-based care improvement across Medicare, Medicaid and commercially insured populations. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2022.
“Meg Koepke has brought a valuable perspective to our Board deliberations,” said Rajeev Jain, MD, FACP, FASGE, AGAF, Chair of the Board of Directors. “She can identify things we might overlook and be a positive catalyst for change while keeping our focus on the patient. I am grateful for her continued service to the Board and I am excited for her to take this new leadership role.”
As is standard practice on other nonprofit boards, the Board Secretary is responsible for the record of votes and meeting minutes of the Board of Directors. At ABIM, the Secretary also serves as the Chair of the Governance Committee, which nominates candidates to serve on the Board and ABIM Council and maintains policies relevant to ABIM Governance members. Erica N. Johnson, MD, FACP, FIDSA, who had served as Secretary of the Board since July 2023, stepped down from the role in July 2024 after accepting the staff position of Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs at ABIM; she will start her new role in October.
“I’m honored to contribute to ABIM’s mission of ensuring the highest standards in internal medicine,” said Ms. Koepke. “As a public member, I am committed to continuing to bring diverse perspective to our work and eager to collaborate with my fellow Board members to promote the integrity and excellence of our governance.”
Ms. Koepke is one of two public members on the Board of Directors, providing a vital perspective from outside the physician experience to the Board’s strategic discussions and decision-making processes. ABIM began including public members on governance bodies in 2014. Today, ABIM Governance is composed of about 90% practicing, board certified physicians, with health care leaders, patients, patient advocates and interdisciplinary credentialed health care professionals (“interprofessionals”) comprising the remainder. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), of which ABIM is one of 24 member boards, follows a similar protocol for inclusion of voices outside the physician experience.
“Our public members have been invaluable colleagues and partners in achieving the ABIM mission over the last ten years. ABIM has for years affirmed that it is ‘of the profession and for the public.’ Public members of governance at all levels have helped to realize this goal over the last decade,” says Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs. Dr. McDonald, who will step into the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of ABIM on September 1, played an instrumental role in the restructuring of ABIM Governance in 2014, including the introduction of public members, and has worked closely with them at all levels.
“Public members on the Board and other governance bodies provide us with ‘blind spot protection,’” Dr. McDonald continued, “seeing issues that affect physicians through the lens of the ‘lived expertise’ of patients and the public. They have also fostered higher standards in assessment and continue to help ensure that our credential is relevant and meaningful not just for physicians, but for patients, other health care stakeholders and the public.”
