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Leif I. Solberg, MD
Retired Senior Research Investigator, MD
About
Dr. Solberg is a family physician who is a Senior Advisor for HealthPartners Medical Group (a 1600 physician multi-specialty group practice) and HealthPartners Health Plan (1.3 million members), and Senior Investigator for HealthPartners Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Solberg is also a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and served as an associate medical director for HealthPartners Medical Group for 16 years. During much of his career at HealthPartners, he was also a Board member and active participant in the work of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), a regional cooperative that has greatly influenced care delivery here.
Dr. Solberg is internationally known for his research on quality improvement of medical care, especially for work on clinical preventive services, chronic disease care, depression, patient-reported outcomes, and the medical home. Dr. Solberg has published over 300 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as 30 book chapters and his main interest has been in learning how to measure and improve the quality and cost of care provided in the primary care setting.
Dr. Solberg is the recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota, the Maurice Wood award for lifetime contributions to primary care research from NAPCRG (North American Primary Care Research Group) and in 2017, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine. More important to Dr. Solberg is his family and the relationships with the patients he has cared for during the 35 years practicing family medicine. In 2022, Dr. Solberg started to reduce his work time with the goal of retiring in 2024.
Conducting Institute research since 1992
Education and training:
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts – BS in 1960
University of Minnesota Medical School – MD in 1963
University of Maryland Hospital – Internal Medicine internship in 1964
University of Maryland Hospital – Internal Medicine residency in 1966
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania – Gastroenterology fellowship in 1968
Current research activities and funding:
- COMPUTE – cluster-randomized trial of clinical decision support for managing opioid use disorder in primary care – Funded by NIDA, Rossom - PI
- PROMOTE – study of patient-reported outcomes in orthopedics – Funded by AHRQ, Solberg – PI
- MNCARES – observational study of care coordination in Minnesota primary care clinics – Funded by PCORI – Solberg and Dehmer – co-PIs
Awards:
B.A., Summa Cum Laude
Phi Beta Kappa
Alpha Omega Alpha
Army Commendation Medal
1989 Minnesota Department of Health Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Promotion Programming - to Doctors Helping Smokers
1995 Researcher of the Year Award - HealthPartners
2001 HealthPartners Medical Group Excellence in Research Award
2004 Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) Researcher of the Year Award
2005 HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research Founders Award
2008University of Minnesota Medical Alumni Society Distinguished Alumni Award
2015 Maurice Wood Award for Lifetime Contribution to Primary Care Research from the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG)
2017 Member – National Academy of Medicine
2019 Annals of Internal Medicine – top reviewer
Dr. Solberg is a family physician who is a Senior Advisor for HealthPartners Medical Group (a 1600 physician multi-specialty group practice) and HealthPartners Health Plan (1.3 million members), and Senior Investigator for HealthPartners Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Solberg is also a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and served as an associate medical director for HealthPartners Medical Group for 16 years. During much of his career at HealthPartners, he was also a Board member and active participant in the work of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), a regional cooperative that has greatly influenced care delivery here.
Dr. Solberg is internationally known for his research on quality improvement of medical care, especially for work on clinical preventive services, chronic disease care, depression, patient-reported outcomes, and the medical home. Dr. Solberg has published over 300 sci