Jeffrey Braithwaite

Jeffrey Braithwaite is an Australian health services researcher, academic, and author. He holds academic appointments as Professor of Health Systems Research at Macquarie University and Founding Director of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI).

Braithwaite has held senior leadership roles in international organisations focused on healthcare quality and safety, including serving as President of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) from 2020 to 2023. He has collaborated with organisations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on health systems research and policy initiatives.

Braithwaite's research has been included in international citation-based rankings of researchers in health and social sciences. According to Google Scholar, his publications have received more than 50,000 citations.

He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales in 2000. His doctoral thesis, Incorporating medical clinicians into management: an examination of clinical directorates, examined the integration of medical clinicians into healthcare management structures.

Career

Health service management Before entering full-time academia, Braithwaite worked in senior management roles within the Australian health sector. Between 1986 and 1994 he held executive positions at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, including Director of Corporate and Strategic Planning, Director of Corporate Services, and Human Resources Director. Earlier appointments included senior human resource management roles within the New South Wales public health system.

Academic career Braithwaite joined the University of New South Wales in 1994, initially as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Services Management. He subsequently served as Director of several postgraduate health management programs, Head of the School of Health Services Management, Associate Professor, and later Professor.

In 2001 he established what later became the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science. In 2007, with colleagues, he founded the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) at University of New South Wales, a multidisciplinary research institute focused on health systems, healthcare quality, patient safety, and implementation science. In 2025 he joined the United States’ National Academy of Medicine Steering Group on Patient Safety in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and the Joint Commission International's Global Patient Safety Leadership Council.

Research Braithwaite's research examines how health systems can improve safety, quality, resilience, and organisational performance.

His research has examined healthcare reform, organisational change, interdisciplinary collaboration, and health system governance. His research has also explored complexity science and its application to healthcare delivery.

Since 2022 he has been listed among Stanford University's World's Top 2% of Scientists. In 2024 he was ranked among the leading Social Sciences and Humanities researchers globally by Research.com, which placed him 15th in Australia and 228th worldwide in the discipline. Research.com ranking of 15th in Australia and 228th globally in Social Sciences and Humanities (2024) Sidney Sax Medal for contributions to Australian healthcare policy, organisation, delivery, and research (2021) Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2017) Health Services Researcher of the Year, Research Australia (2015) Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, United Kingdom (2014) Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision, University of New South Wales (2013) Australian Council on Healthcare Standards Medal (2011)

Professional affiliations Braithwaite is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAAHMS), the Academy of Social Sciences (United Kingdom) (FAcSS), the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (United Kingdom) (FFPHRCP), the Australasian College of Health Service Management (FCHSM), and the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand (FIML). He has served on governmental, professional and academic advisory bodies in Australia and internationally, particularly in the fields of healthcare quality, patient safety, implementation science and health system reform.

Selected works Journal Articles

Braithwaite J, Glasziou P, Westbrook JI. The three numbers you need to know about healthcare: the 60-30-10 challenge. BMC Med. 2020;18(1):102. Braithwaite J, Mannion R, Matsuyama Y, Shekelle PG, et al. The future of health systems to 2030: a roadmap for global progress and sustainability. Int J Qual Health Care. 2018;30(10):823–831. Braithwaite J, Churruca K, Long JC, Ellis LA, Herkes J. When complexity science meets implementation science: a theoretical and empirical analysis of systems change. BMC Med. 2018;16(1):63. Runciman WB, Hunt TD, Hannaford NA, Hibbert PD, Westbrook JI, Coiera EW, Day RO, Hindmarsh DM, McGlynn EA, Braithwaite J. CareTrack: Assessing the appropriateness of health care delivery in Australia. Med J Aust. 2012;197(2):100–105. Braithwaite J, Wears RL, Hollnagel E. Resilient health care: turning patient safety on its head. Int J Qual Health Care. 2015;27(5):418–420. Braithwaite J. Changing how we think about healthcare improvement. BMJ. 2018;361:k2014. Books Braithwaite J, Zurynski Y, Smith CL, editors. Routledge Handbook on Climate Change and Health System Sustainability. Abingdon (UK): Routledge; 2024. Rapport F, Clay-Williams R, Braithwaite J. Implementation science: the key concepts. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2022. Hollnagel E, Braithwaite J, Wears RL, editors. Resilient Health Care. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group; 2019. Braithwaite J, Mannion R, Matsuyama Y, Shekelle P, Whittaker S, Al-Adawi S, editors. Health Systems Improvement Across the Globe: Success Stories from 60 Countries. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press; 2018.