Sally Mahmoud-Werthmann
Clinical Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine
Bio
Dr. Sally Mahmoud-Werthmann, MD, MPH, is an emergency physician whose work focuses on advancing health equity through clinical operations, systems redesign, implementation, and community partnership. Her expertise lies in identifying barriers to care for patients navigating complex medical, social, and structural challenges and developing scalable, patient-centered solutions that improve access, care coordination, and health outcomes. She is particularly interested in translating health equity principles into sustainable operational interventions that improve the delivery of care across healthcare systems.
Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann's work includes leading the Stanford Emergency Department Complex Care Program, Community Health Worker Program, health-related social needs initiatives, addiction treatment implementation, and operational efforts aimed at improving care transitions and access for vulnerable populations. Her efforts bring together physicians, nurses, social workers, operational leaders, information technology teams, and community partners to design and implement programs that improve care across the continuum. She works closely with Stanford Health Care's Health Equity Management Guidance Team (MGT) and is a member of the leadership team for the Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Workgroup, helping develop the infrastructure, workflows, and partnerships needed to support health-related social needs screening, referral, and patient navigation across the health system.
Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann also serves as the Social Emergency Medicine Track Lead, CAM Lead, and Conference Curriculum Lead for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Her educational interests include experiential learning, systems-based practice, and preparing trainees to address complex challenges at the intersection of healthcare delivery, health equity, and patient-centered care.
A collaborative and people-centered leader, Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann is particularly interested in bringing together diverse stakeholders to identify shared goals, align efforts, and develop sustainable solutions that improve care. She believes that meaningful systems change begins with understanding the lived experiences of patients and ensuring that healthcare innovation remains grounded in the needs of the individuals and communities it serves. Her work is guided by the principle that advancing health equity requires collaboration across clinical care, operations, community partnerships, education, and health system leadership.
Honors & Awards
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Dr. Audrey Shafer Award for Promoting Diversity & Inclusion, Stanford University School of Medicine (2023)
Professional Education
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Board Certification, American Board of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine (2021)
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Fellowship, Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign, Biodesign Faculty Fellowship (2025)
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Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine, Social Emergency Medicine & Population Health (2023)
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Residency, Highland Hospital - Alameda Health System Dept of Emergency Medicine (2021)
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MPH, University of California Berkeley (2024)
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MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2017)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann's research focuses on implementation science, health equity, and healthcare delivery innovation, with an emphasis on improving care for patients experiencing social and structural barriers to health. She is particularly interested in understanding how evidence-based interventions can be effectively implemented, adapted, and scaled within real-world healthcare settings to improve access, quality, and outcomes for vulnerable populations.
A central theme of her work is centering the experiences of patients and communities in the design of healthcare interventions. She has a strong interest in qualitative and mixed-methods research and values approaches that elevate patient perspectives, identify barriers to care, and inform the development of more responsive healthcare systems. Her current work includes qualitative research exploring telehealth access and utilization among unstably housed populations, with a particular focus on co-designing potential solutions alongside patients and community stakeholders.
Her research also includes evaluation of community health worker programs, implementation strategies to increase adoption of evidence-based addiction treatment, including emergency department naltrexone prescribing, and operational approaches to addressing health-related social needs within healthcare systems. More broadly, she is interested in developing and evaluating scalable models that improve care transitions, strengthen system navigation, and advance health equity across the continuum of care.
In addition to her health services and implementation research, Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann is interested in advancing equity within academic medicine. Her work in this area focuses on understanding barriers to advancement for women in emergency medicine and exploring innovative models of mentorship, sponsorship, and professional development that promote equitable career advancement and leadership opportunities.
All Publications
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Perspectives on Attrition Among Emergency Physicians.
JAMA network open
2026; 9 (6): e2616511
Abstract
Physician attrition has dramatically increased, and emergency physician attrition threatens safety-net stability. Understanding key factors associated with attrition is necessary to develop structural interventions to promote career longevity.To examine why emergency physicians leave and to develop strategies to promote retention.This national qualitative study took place from August 8, 2024, to April 11, 2025, and involved semistructured video interviews with board-certified or board-eligible emergency physicians who had either left clinical emergency medicine or seriously contemplated leaving. Participants were recruited via social media, residency alumni networks, and snowball sampling, with purposive sampling by gender, community vs academic practice, region, and years in practice.Key themes associated with attrition and potential strategies for retention were identified through iterative thematic analysis.Among 46 participants, 28 (61%) were women, and 24 (53%) were community based, with a median (IQR) of 6 (4-10) years in practice. Most (34 participants [74%]) no longer practiced emergency medicine; 9 (19%) practiced emergency medicine part-time, and 3 (6%) practiced emergency medicine full-time. Physicians described a growing mismatch between increasing clinical demands and stagnant resources that prevented them from providing safe, high-quality patient care. These tensions were aggravated by the persistent emphasis on volume, efficiency, and patient satisfaction over safety and clinical outcomes. Physicians described pervasive disrespect, interpersonal conflict, and devaluation of the work of emergency medicine. Institutional responses promoting individual resilience exacerbated distress. Limited opportunities for growth and rigid career structures demanding the same intensity of shifts across life stages led to feelings of stagnancy even among those with fewer negative experiences. Women more frequently described gender inequities in advancement and inadequate support for new parents as drivers of attrition. Participants identified improved staffing, less emphasis on throughput and satisfaction, career flexibility to support life phases and caregiving, mentorship, opportunities for professional growth, and gender equity in advancement as strategies to enhance retention.In this qualitative study, emergency physicians felt driven out by structural health system failures, including misaligned incentives and inadequate resources. Institutional accountability for adequate staffing, metrics prioritizing safety over throughput and satisfaction, and career adaptability across life stages may promote retention and access to high-quality emergency care.
View details for DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.16511
View details for PubMedID 42234425
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC13234690
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Association Between Social Vulnerability and US HIV Priority Jurisdictions.
Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999)
2024; 96 (2): e4-e6
View details for DOI 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003415
View details for PubMedID 38771755
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Proceedings from the 2021 SAEM Consensus Conference: Research Priorities for Interventions to Address Social Risks and Needs Identified in Emergency Department Patients.
The western journal of emergency medicine
2023; 24 (2): 295-301
Abstract
Emergency departments (ED) function as a health and social safety net, regularly taking care of patients with high social risk and need. Few studies have examined ED-based interventions for social risk and need.Focusing on ED-based interventions, we identified initial research gaps and priorities in the ED using a literature review, topic expert feedback, and consensus-building. Research gaps and priorities were further refined based on moderated, scripted discussions and survey feedback during the 2021 SAEM Consensus Conference. Using these methods, we derived six priorities based on three identified gaps in ED-based social risks and needs interventions: 1) assessment of ED-based interventions; 2) intervention implementation in the ED environment; and 3) intercommunication between patients, EDs, and medical and social systems.Using these methods, we derived six priorities based on three identified gaps in ED-based social risks and needs interventions: 1) assessment of ED-based interventions, 2) intervention implementation in the ED environment, and 3) intercommunication between patients, EDs, and medical and social systems. Assessing intervention effectiveness through patient-centered outcome and risk reduction measures should be high priorities in the future. Also noted was the need to study methods of integrating interventions into the ED environment and to increase collaboration between EDs and their larger health systems, community partners, social services, and local government.The identified research gaps and priorities offer guidance for future work to establish effective interventions and build relationships with community health and social systems to address social risks and needs, thereby improving the health of our patients.
View details for DOI 10.5811/westjem.2022.11.57293
View details for PubMedID 36976612
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10047718