Anjana Sharma, MD, MAS

Associate Professor

I have developed deep expertise in patient and community engagement in healthcare settings to improve quality and safety outcomes.

Specifically, I have skills in building and maintaining representative and ethical patient advisory councils, mixed-methods research, implementation science, quality improvement, community-engaged research, and reproductive health. Most of my work has focused on the public healthcare network, serving patients that our society has structurally and historically disinvested and marginalized.

My research portfolio seeks to develop research that will transform healthcare delivery structures into participatory, vibrant locations of well-being, healing, and justice. I currently am studying how patients can inform ambulatory patient safety improvement work, and the prevalence and impact of patient and community engagement in primary care.

I can provide expert consultation on developing patient/community advisory boards for clinical care or research activities that are patient- and community co-created. I am involved in residency education regarding community engagement competencies and engaging patients and community partners in residency education.

Education
2018 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
MAS, 05/2017 - Clinical Research, University of California San Francisco
Residency, 07/2014 - Family Medicine, Tufts University Family Medicine Residency at Cambridge Health Alliance
MD, 05/2011 - , Harvard Medical School
BA, 05/2006 - Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia College, Columbia University
Publications

  1. Studenmund C, Lyndon A, Stotts JR, Peralta-Neel C, Sharma AE, Bardach NS. What do patients and families observe about pediatric safety?: A thematic analysis of real-time narratives. Journal of hospital medicine 2024. PMID: 38741257


  2. Kong M, Willard-Grace R, Khoong E, Sharma A, Mukerjee M, Su G, Tuot D. Implementing team-based telemedicine workflows in safety-net primary care. The American journal of managed care 2024. PMID: 38820184


  3. Sharma AE, Lisker S, Fields JD, Aulakh V, Figoni K, Jones ME, Arora NB, Sarkar U, Lyles CR. Language-Specific Challenges and Solutions for Equitable Telemedicine Implementation in the Primary Care Safety Net During COVID-19. Journal of general internal medicine 2023. PMID: 37653210


  4. Lyndon A, Davis DA, Sharma AE, Scott KA. Emotional safety is patient safety. Volume 32 of Issue 7. BMJ quality & safety 2023. PMID: 36732064


  5. Sharma AE, Khosla K, Potharaju K, Mukherjea A, Sarkar U. COVID-19-Associated Misinformation Across the South Asian Diaspora: Qualitative Study of WhatsApp Messages. JMIR infodemiology 2023. PMID: 37113380


  6. Wong J, Lee SY, Sarkar U, Sharma AE. Medication adverse events in the ambulatory setting: A mixed-methods analysis. American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2022. PMID: 36164846


  7. Lyles CR, Sharma AE, Fields JD, Getachew Y, Sarkar U, Zephyrin L. Centering Health Equity in Telemedicine. Annals of family medicine 2022. PMID: 35879077


  8. Sharma AE, Khoong EC, Sierra M, Rivadeneira NA, Nijagal MA, Su G, Lyles CR, Defries T, Tuot D, Sarkar U. System-level factors associated with telephone and video visit use: Survey of safety-net clinicians during the early phase of COVID-19. 2022. PMID: 35148271


  9. Bardach NS, Stotts JR, Fiore DM, Sarkar U, Sharma AE, Boscardin WJ, Avina L, Peralta-Neel C, Rosenbluth G. Family Input for Quality and Safety (FIQS): Using mobile technology for in-hospital reporting from families and patients. 2022. PMID: 35535946


  10. Khoong EC, Sharma AE, Gupta K, Adler-Milstein J, Sarkar U. The Abrupt Expansion of Ambulatory Telemedicine: Implications for Patient Safety. 2022. PMID: 35048294


  11. Sharma AE, Khoong EC, Rivadeneira N, Sierra M, Fang MC, Gupta N, Pramanik R, Tran H, Whitezell T, Fontil V, Lee SY, Sarkar U. Warfarin Monitoring in Safety-Net Health Systems: Analysis by Race/Ethnicity and Language Preference. 2022. PMID: 34993871


  12. Sharma AE, Lyson HC, Cherian R, Somsouk M, Schillinger D, Sarkar U. A Root Cause Analysis of Barriers to Timely Colonoscopy in California Safety-Net Health Systems. Journal of patient safety 2020. PMID: 32467445


  13. Sharma AE, Huang B, Stakeholder Research Advisory Council , Del Rosario JB, Yang J, Boscardin WJ, Sarkar U. Patient and caregiver factors in ambulatory incident reports: a mixed-methods analysis. BMJ open quality 2021. PMID: 34544693


  14. Hemmat S, Khoong EC, Olazo K, Sharma AE, Mangurian C, Fernandez A, Sarkar U. Using incident reporting to understand and characterize sexual harassment of physicians by patients. Journal of general internal medicine 2021. PMID: 34254222


  15. Lyson HC, Sharma AE, Cherian R, Patterson ES, McDonald KM, Lee SY, Sarkar U. A Qualitative Analysis of Outpatient Medication Use in Community Settings: Observed Safety Vulnerabilities and Recommendations for Improved Patient Safety. Journal of patient safety 2019. PMID: 30882615


  16. Sharma AE, Khoong EC, Nijagal MA, Lyles CR, Su G, DeFries T, Sarkar U, Tuot D. Clinician experience with telemedicine at a safety-net hospital network during COVID-19: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2021. PMID: 37020792


  17. Sharma AE, Mann Z, Cherian R, Del Rosario JB, Yang J, Sarkar U. Recommendations From the Twitter Hashtag #DoctorsAreDickheads: Qualitative Analysis. Journal of medical Internet research 2020. PMID: 33112246


  18. Sharma AE, Yang J, Del Rosario JB, Hoskote M, Rivadeneira NA. What Safety Events Are Reported For Ambulatory Care? Analysis of Incident Reports from a Patient Safety Organization. Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety 2020. PMID: 32980254


  19. Dehlendorf C, Fox E, Sharma AE, Zhang J, Yang S, Centola D. Birth Control Connect: A randomized trial of an online group to disseminate contraceptive information. Volume 101 of Issue 6. Contraception 2020. PMID: 32032641


  20. Hemmat S, Khoong EC, Sharma AE, Sarkar U. Sharing Stories, Searching for Solutions: Sexual Harassment of Physicians by Patients. The American journal of medicine 2019. PMID: 31300215


  21. Sharma AE, Huang B, Knox M, Willard-Grace R, Potter MB. Patient Engagement in Community Health Center Leadership: How Does it Happen? Volume 43 of Issue 6. Journal of community health 2018. PMID: 29777334


  22. Sharma AE, Frederiksen BN, Malcolm NM, Rollison JM, Carter MW. Community Education and Engagement in Family Planning: Updated Systematic Review. Volume 55 of Issue 5. American journal of preventive medicine 2018. PMID: 30342637


  23. Sharma AE, Rivadeneira NA, Barr-Walker J, Stern RJ, Johnson AK, Sarkar U. Patient Engagement In Health Care Safety: An Overview Of Mixed-Quality Evidence. Health affairs (Project Hope) 2018. PMID: 30395509


  24. Sharma AE, Knox M, Peterson LE, Willard-Grace R, Grumbach K, Potter MB. How Is Family Medicine Engaging Patients at the Practice-Level?: A National Sample of Family Physicians. Volume 31 of Issue 5. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM 2018. PMID: 30201669


  25. Sharma AE, Knox M, Mleczko VL, Olayiwola JN. The impact of patient advisors on healthcare outcomes: a systematic review. Volume 17 of Issue 1. BMC health services research 2017. PMID: 29058625


  26. Sharma AE, Grumbach K. Engaging patients in primary care practice transformation: theory, evidence and practice. Volume 34 of Issue 3. Family practice 2017. PMID: 28034916


  27. Olayiwola, J. Nwando 2062970; Sheth, Sonali; Mleczko, Victor; Choi, Anna L.; and Sharma, Anjana E.. The Impact of the Patient-Centered Medical Home on Health Disparities in Adults: A Systematic Review of the Evidence Journal of health disparities research and practice 2017. PMID:


  28. Sharma AE, Willard-Grace R, Willis A, Zieve O, Dubé K, Parker C, Potter MB. "How Can We Talk about Patient-centered Care without Patients at the Table?" Lessons Learned from Patient Advisory Councils. Volume 29 of Issue 6. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM 2016. PMID: 28076261


  29. Rachel Willard-Grace, MPH, Anjana E. Sharma, MD, Charla Parker, MPA, and Michael B. Potter, MD. Engaging Patients as Partners in Practice Improvement: A Survey of Community Health Centers Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management 2016. PMID:


  30. Sharma AE, Willard-Grace R, Hessler D, Bodenheimer T, Thom DH. What Happens After Health Coaching? Observational Study 1 Year Following a Randomized Controlled Trial. Volume 14 of Issue 3. Annals of family medicine 2016. PMID: 27184989


  31. Sharma A, Angel L, Bui Q. Patient Advisory Councils: Giving Patients a Seat at the Table. Volume 22 of Issue 4. Family practice management 2015. PMID: 26176505