Sonia Malhotra, MD, MS, FAAP, FAAHPM, and a team of colleagues were recently awarded the Gerald Holman Distinguished Service Award by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The award recognizes individuals who have advanced the mission of the AAHPM in a significant and lasting way. Dr. Malhotra’s group formed a working group to reform hospice care reimbursement at the federal level, including increasing inpatient and home hospice care payments. As Co-Chair of the national AAHPM DEI committee, Dr. Malhotra’s large role in this was to formulate measurements that help hospices care for underrepresented minorities and safety net populations similar to the patient community at UMCNO and to adequately reimburse for services (both inpatient and home) that help target social determinants of health.
Dr. Malhotra brought her internal medicine and palliative care expertise to Tulane University School of Medicine and University Medical Center nearly seven years ago. She’s currently Associate Section Chief of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, and Palliative Medicine at Tulane; Director of UMCNO Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care; Associate Program Director of the Tulane Med-Peds Residency; Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Tulane; Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at LSU New Orleans; and Senior Lecturer, OCS at University of Queensland.