As medical director of the General Internal Medicine ambulatory practice, Dr. Fischer works with physicians and staff to foster a patient-centered medical home ethos within the practice, involving patient-centeredness, expanded access, coordination of care, and a focus on data and continuous quality improvement.
As program director for the UPMC Clinical Informatics fellowship, he is passionate about developing effective training programs for physicians who want to make clinical informatics part of their career. He is also involved in educating about medical ethics, internal medicine, and effective use of the electronic health record.
Dr. Fischer conducts research in several areas related to using informatics to improve health care quality: 1) the use of health information technology (HIT) and clinical decision support to improve quality of care; 2) the use of patient-facing HIT tools to improve patient outcomes, including with weight loss, diabetes care, hypertension, and prevention; 3) electronic communication between patients and health care providers; and 4) ambulatory quality improvement.
- BA, Mathematics, Franklin and Marshall College, 1986
- MD, Harvard Medical School, 1990
- Residency, Primary Care Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1993
- Fellowship, GIM and Medical Ethics, University of Pittsburgh, 1995
Education & Training
Wisenfeld HC, Hong J, Xu T, Cuffe KM, Bernstein KT, Gift TL, Fischer GS. A staff-directed electronic medical record alert to increase chlamydia screening: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open. 2026; 9(5):e2615360.
Lussier ME, Hamm ME, Kenkre BN, Wright EA, Gordon AJ, Wasan AD, Gellad WF, Althouse AD, Cochran G, Fischer GS, Salay M, Kern MS, Kraemer KL. Clinician perceptions of electronic health record and email nudge interventions to prevent unsafe opioid prescribing: A qualitative study. J Opioid Manag. 2025; 21(2):121-130.
Hanmer J, Liu Y, Leon-Jhong A, Bui T, Meltzer A, Kogan J, Schuster J, Fischer GS, Bryk J. Better care, same cost - reducing unplanned care for multi-visit patients: A payer-provider model. JGIM. 2024; 40:1877-1884.
Carleton N, Radomski TR, Li D, Zou J, Harris J, Hamm M, Wang Z, Saawai G, Fischer GS, Arnold J, Cowher MS, Lupinacci K. Sabih Q, Steiman J, Johnson RR, Soran A, Diego EJ, Oesterreich S, Tseng G, et al. Electronic health record-based nudge intervention and axillary surgery in older women with breast cancer: A nonrandomized controlled trial. JAMA Surg. 2024; 159(10):1117-1125.
- Practice Innovation and Quality Award, Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting, 2016
- Fellow, American College of Physicians, 2016
- Physician Excellence in Leadership Award, UPMC, 2023
- ACP Laureate Award, Western Pennsylvania Chapter of American College of Physicians, 2025
