Within 2 years of joining The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) as an outpatient psychiatrist, Maria Koshy, MD, was tapped to be Assistant Chief of Psychiatry at KP South Sacramento, then was promoted to chief.
In early 2020, as Associate Chair for Access and Operations, she wrote a regional playbook for transitioning outpatient behavioral health from in-person to virtual care, working collaboratively with regional directors, local chiefs, and directors to ensure a rapid, seamless, and patient-centric transition. A few months later, Dr. Koshy’s peers elected her Chair of Chiefs of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, and Director of Regional Mental Health Administration for TPMG.
In this role Dr. Koshy shepherded the creation and expansion of several regional, population-based programs, including collaborative care models for severe and persistent mental illness, and mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, as well as standardized treatment pathways within specialty mental health departments. “At the end of the day if it doesn’t impact the member experience and their journey, then it isn’t something valuable,” she says.
She has fostered a strong, collaborative relationship with the TPMG Division of Research, substantially increasing physician-led Behavioral Health research. Likewise, she led regional teams that developed reporting for follow-up access to Behavioral Health therapists and galvanized a group of chiefs to develop TPMG’s first risk-adjusted panel model for psychiatry.