Top execs Cassel and Lewin step down from posts
The top executives of two prominent physician organizations plan to step down. Dr. Christine Cassel will leave her posts as president and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation in July 2013, when her current term ends. The American College of Cardiology announced that CEO Dr. Jack Lewin will leave his post to pursue other opportunities. Cassel assumed ABIM’S top position in 2003. During her tenure, she spearheaded a number of programs on certification and quality improvement, including the ABIM Foundation’s recently launched Choosing Wisely campaign, aimed at reducing healthcare waste and overuse. An expert in the fields of geriatrics, quality improvement and medical ethics, Cassel’s past roles include stints as president of the American Federation for Aging Research and president of the American College of Physicians. She was No. 30 on Modern Healthcare/modern Physician’s 50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare list in 2011. ABIM and the ABIM Foundation said they would begin a national search this summer for Cassel’s successor. Lewin led the ACC for more than five years at the job, starting in November 2006. The organization did not say when Lewin’s departure would be effective but noted that Tom Arend, the ACC’S general counsel and COO, will fill in as interim chief staff officer alongside the college’s team of senior vice presidents while the ACC searches for a new CEO. Lewin was No. 78 on Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare list in 2011. Before joining the ACC, Lewin was CEO of the California Medical Association.