Edgar Pierluissi, MD

Professor

Edgar Pierluissi, M.D., is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCSF. He is Medical Director of the Acute Care for Elders Unit at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Dr. Pierluissi has cared for vulnerable populations his entire career and is committed to healthcare quality improvement. He merged these interests as the founding Medical Director of the Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit at the San Francisco General Hospital. The SFGH adopted this model of care to meet the needs of a growing older population in San Francisco. Since opening in February, 2007, and expanding the unit in 2009, the Unit cares for over 1000 patients each year.

Dr. Pierluissi received his MD from Harvard Medical School and completed training and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a fellowship in Quality Improvement through the Veterans Affairs National Quality Scholars Fellowship. After training he worked for the County of San Mateo as a staff physician, as the medical director of the North County Health Center, and as VP for Quality Improvement. He joined the faculty of the UCSF Division of Geriatrics in 2006 and the SFGH Division of Hospital Medicine in 2008.

Education:
1981-85 University of Chicago, Chicago, IL B.A.
1986-91 Harvard Medical School M.D.

Training:
1991-94 University of California, San Francisco Medicine Residency
1994-95 University of California, San Francisco Chief Resident Medicine
1999-01 Veterans Affairs National Quality Scholars Fellow Quality Improvement
Fellowship, San Francisco, California

Certification:
2011 Medical Licensure, California
1994 Certification, American Board of Internal Medicine
2004, 2014 Recertification, American Board of Internal Medicine

Memberships & Affiliations:
American Geriatrics Society
Education
2017 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
Residency, - Geriatrics, University of California, San Francisco
Publications
  1. Chang A, Pierluissi E, Cornes S, Ishizaki A, Teherani A, Davis J, Hauer KE, Lucey CR. The Clinical Microsystems Clerkship at University of California, San Francisco: Integrating Clinical Skills and Health Systems Improvement for Early Medical Students. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2022. PMID: 36222538


  2. O'Brien BC, Zapata J, Chang A, Pierluissi E. Bridging medical education goals and health system outcomes: An instrumental case study of pre-clerkship students' improvement projects. "Are Telehealth Visits Feasible for Vulnerable Patients?" 2022. PMID: 35394613


  3. Gylys R, Rosenwohl-Mack S, Pierluissi E, Hoffman A. Assessing contributions of value-added medical student roles. Medical teacher 2020. PMID: 32375522


  4. Harbell MW, Li D, Boscardin C, Pierluissi E, Hauer KE. Teaching Systems Improvement to Early Medical Students: Strategies and Lessons Learned. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 2019. PMID: 31335811


  5. Raffel KE, Gupta N, Vercammen-Grandjean C, Hohman J, Ranji S, Pierluissi E, Mourad M. A Discharge Time-Out: A Case Study on Physician-Nurse Discharge Communication and the Challenge of Sustainability in Resident-Led Quality Improvement. American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality 2018. PMID: 30345785


  6. McNicholl IR, Gandhi M, Hare CB, Greene M, Pierluissi E. A Pharmacist-Led Program to Evaluate and Reduce Polypharmacy and Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing in Older HIV-Positive Patients. Pharmacotherapy 2017. PMID: 29023938


  7. Makaroun LK, Bowman C, Duan K, Handley N, Wheeler DJ, Pierluissi E, Chen AH. Specialty Care Access in the Safety Net-the Role of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2017. PMID: 28239019


  8. Pierluissi E. Hospitalization-Associated Disability in Adults Admitted to a Safety-Net Hospital. Journal of general internal medicine 2016. PMID: 26941041


  9. Chodos AH, Kushel MB, Greysen SR, Guzman D, Kessell ER, Sarkar U, Goldman LE, Critchfield JM, Pierluissi E. Hospitalization-Associated Disability in Adults Admitted to a Safety-Net Hospital. Volume 30 of Issue 12. Journal of general internal medicine 2015. PMID: 25986139


  10. Kellie L. Flood, Katrina Booth, Edgar Pierluissi, Ellen S. Danto-Nocton, Denise M. Kresevic, Robert M. Palmer. Acute Care for Elders. Geriatrics Models of Care 2015. PMID:


  11. Brown RT, Pierluissi E, Guzman D, Kessell ER, Goldman LE, Sarkar U, Schneidermann M, Critchfield JM, Kushel MB. Functional disability in late-middle-aged and older adults admitted to a safety-net hospital. Volume 62 of Issue 11. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014. PMID: 25367281


  12. Goldman LE, Sarkar U, Kessell E, Guzman D, Schneidermann M, Pierluissi E, Walter B, Vittinghoff E, Critchfield J, Kushel M. Support from hospital to home for elders: a randomized trial. Volume 161 of Issue 7. Annals of internal medicine 2014. PMID: 25285540


  13. Greysen SR, Hoi-Cheung D, Garcia V, Kessell E, Sarkar U, Goldman L, Schneidermann M, Critchfield J, Pierluissi E, Kushel M. "Missing pieces"--functional, social, and environmental barriers to recovery for vulnerable older adults transitioning from hospital to home. Volume 62 of Issue 8. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014. PMID: 24934494


  14. Moy NY, Lee SJ, Chan T, Grovey B, Boscardin WJ, Gonzales R, Pierluissi E. Development and sustainability of an inpatient-to-outpatient discharge handoff tool: a quality improvement project. Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety 2014. PMID: 24919253


  15. Edgar Pierluissi, Deborah C. Francis, Kenneth E. Covinsky. Patient and Hospital Factors That Lead to Adverse Outcomes in Hospitalized Elders. Acute Care for Elders 2014. PMID:


  16. Pierluissi E. Morbidity and mortality conferences: change you can believe in? Journal of graduate medical education 2012. PMID: 24294439


  17. Pierluissi E, Mehta KM, Kirby KA, Boscardin WJ, Fortinsky RH, Palmer RM, Landefeld CS. Depressive symptoms after hospitalization in older adults: function and mortality outcomes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2012. PMID: 23176725


  18. So C, Pierluissi E. Attitudes and expectations regarding exercise in the hospital of hospitalized older adults: a qualitative study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2012. PMID: 22429118


  19. Pierluissi E, Mehta KM, Kirby KA, Boscardin WJ, Fortinsky RH, Palmer RM, Landefeld CS. Depressive Symptoms after Hospitalization in Older Adults: Function and Mortality Outcomes. J Amer Ger Soc Depressive Symptoms after Hospitalization in Older Adults: Function and Mortality Outcomes. J Amer Ger Soc 2012. PMID:


  20. Covinsky KE, Pierluissi E, Johnston CB. Hospitalization-associated disability: "She was probably able to ambulate, but I'm not sure". JAMA 2011. PMID: 22028354


  21. Mehta KM, Pierluissi E, Boscardin WJ, Kirby KA, Walter LC, Chren MM, Palmer RM, Counsell SR, Landefeld CS. A clinical index to stratify hospitalized older adults according to risk for new-onset disability. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2011. PMID: 21649616


  22. Edgar Pierluissi, Melissa A. Fischer, Andre R. Campbell, C. Seth Landefeld. Discussion of Medical Errors in Morbidity and Mortality Conferences. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 2004. PMID:


  23. Pierluissi E, Fischer MA, Campbell AR, Landefeld CS. Discussion of medical errors in morbidity and mortality conferences. JAMA 2003. PMID: 14657068