Dr. Francis “Jay” Crosson named chairman of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and other news makers

Dr. Francis “Jay” Crosson has been named chairman of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on Medicare spending. He replaces Glenn Hackbarth, whose term expired in April.

Crosson, a former Kaiser Permanente physician and executive, serves on the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and previously was vice chairman of MedPAC from 2009 to 2010. He also served on the commission from 2004 to 2010 before his nomination to chairman.

Crosson has spent 35 years with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser, holding several positions including senior fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, director of public policy for Permanente Medical Group and executive director of the Permanente Federation.

Gregory Lucier will continue to serve, now in a permanent capacity, as the CEO of medical devicemaker NuVasive.

Lucier, 51, has served as chairman and interim CEO since March and has been on the company's board since December 2013.

His appointment comes after the San Diego-based manufacturer of spine devices went through a dramatic leadership transition this year. The company announced April 1 that Alex Lukianov, NuVasive's founder and CEO since 1999, had resigned after an independent audit found he did not comply with the company's “expense reimbursement and personnel policies.” The company did not disclose how much money was involved but said the amount was immaterial.

Before joining NuVasive, Lucier was chairman and CEO of biotechnology firm Life Technologies, where he worked for 11 years. He also served as a corporate officer at General Electric Co. and an executive at GE Medical Systems.

Dr. Talmadge King Jr. has been named dean and vice chancellor of medical affairs at the UCSF Schoolof Medicine.

King, 67, is an international expert on lung disorders who has been a campus leader for nearly two decades. He replaces interim dean Dr. Bruce Wintroub, who will continue to chair the university's department of dermatology and vice dean of the medical school. For nine years, King has served as chairman of the UCSF Department of Medicine, the largest department in the medical school.

In addition to overseeing the school's education and research enterprises, King will lead the faculty at eight major locations, including UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Chuck Mowll has retired from the Joint Commission after more than 20 years at the healthcare quality and accreditation organization.

Mowll, 66, spent most of his tenure as executive VP for business development, government and external relations. In that role, he led the creation of several new certification programs, directed a major rebranding effort and played an important role nationally to enhance the nation's organ donation and transplantation system.