Francis J. Crosson, MD,
Founding Executive Director
The Permanente Federation

Dr. Crosson was the founding Executive Director of The Permanente Federation. The Federation is the national organization of the Permanente Medical Groups, the physician component of Kaiser Permanente. From 1997 to 2007 Dr. Crosson served as the Executive Director of the Federation and co-chair, with Mr. George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, of the Kaiser Permanente Partnership Group (KPPG), the Kaiser Permanente joint management body. Dr. Crosson also served as the CEO and President of The Permanente Company, which carries out the Federation’s business functions. He currently is a Senior Fellow in the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy and Associate Executive Director of the Permanente Medical Group.

Dr. Crosson is Past Chair of the Governing Board of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA). In 2002, Dr. Crosson founded and now chairs the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP), an AMGA affiliate. CAPP is an alliance of 34 of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group practices which promotes delivery system improvement in the United States. He recently served for nine years on the California Medical Association Board of Trustees. In 2007, Dr. Crosson was re-appointed to a second three-year term on the congressional Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). He is a graduate of the Kaiser Permanente Executive Program at Stanford Business School.

Dr. Crosson received an undergraduate degree in Political Science and, in 1970, a medical degree from Georgetown University. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at the New England Medical Center Hospitals and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He served in the U.S. Navy for two years at Bethesda Naval Hospital before joining The Permanente Medical Group in 1977, where he practiced pediatrics and served in numerous leadership and administrative positions, until he assumed the leadership of The Permanente Federation in 1997.

“Obama Visits Clinic Known for Quality Care, Controlling Costs,” by David Brown, The Washington Post, July 23, 2009

The Post takes a more in-depth look at The Cleveland Clinic, a CAPP medical group, that was touted by President Obama as a model of health care efficiency and quality.

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“Yes, models for cost-efficient health care do exist,” by Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2009

CAPP group Scott & White is featured in this article that reviews some of the Dartmouth findings on organizations that can curb health care costs.

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“Atul Gawande: The Cost Conundrum Redux,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 23, 2009.

Gawande responds to the skeptics of his highly publicized New Yorker article.

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“The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 01, 2009

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