Lee Fleisher, M.D.

Dr. Lee Fleisher is a Senior Advisor to BPC’s Health Program. He also serves as an emeritus professor of anesthesiology and critical care and a senior fellow at the Leonard David Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

 From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Fleisher served as the chief medical officer and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where he was responsible for executing all national clinical, quality, and safety standards for health care facilities and providers. While at CMS, he was a member of the thought leadership team transitioning health care toward value and equity, as well as a member of the CMS/HHS executive team developing pandemic response, including COVID-19, MPOX, and planning for future pandemic responses. At CMS, he oversaw the decision regarding monoclonal antibodies for Alzheimer’s.

Prior to his time at CMS, he was the Robert D. Dripps Professor and chair of anesthesiology and critical care and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he oversaw the delivery of anesthesia care, critical care, and pain management at Penn Medicine.

Dr. Fleisher has received numerous honors including being elected to membership of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 and the Distinguished Alumni Award from SUNY in 2011. He also received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. He is listed as a 2023 Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives.

Dr. Fleisher received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, completing his residency in anesthesiology at Yale University. He is pursuing a master’s in law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (expected completion in May 2024).