While many regulators may be daunted by the prospect of adding independent research objectives to their already long list of activities, the Washington Medical Commission (WMC) has already taken the plunge. Courtesy of the leadership and work of Jimi Bush, Director of Quality and Engagement, the agency has been digging deep into the vast quantities of data it collects for some surprising and novel conclusions.

The WMC regulates roughly 36,000 physicians and physician assistants in the state of Washington. As Director of Quality and Engagement, Bush works in two basic organizational areas: internal research (i.e., data management, KPIs, and ad hoc reporting) and external communications (i.e., social media activity, stakeholder engagement, and educational activities). Since 2015, she has drawn on her background in the world of finance to explore how data collection can drive action in the public sector.

In this episode of Ascend Radio, Bush sits down with Ascend Editor-in-Chief Paul Leavoy for a wide-ranging discussion on her work with the WMC and the function of research in the regulatory space more broadly. Their one-hour conversation touches on topics including:

• The WMC’s mission to find meaningful information within agency datasets.
• The commission’s key findings across years of harvesting and interpreting regulatory data.
• How Bush and her team routinely collect and analyze data to drive improved regulatory outcomes.
• Advice for small- to medium-sized regulators looking to undertake research projects of their own.
• The value of tactical social media use to promote stakeholder engagement, and more.

To learn more about Bush’s work as a research leader for the WMC, check out her 2020 paper in the Journal of Medical Regulation on health care worker burnout or listen to her podcast appearance on CLEAR’s Regulation Matters, in which she discusses recidivism among licensees who have received disciplinary measures.

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