Rishi Mehta, MD

Rishi Mehta, MD is a physician leader at USC—serving within the Keck School of Medicine as the inaugural Chief of the Division of Hospital & Palliative Medicine, and at Keck Medical Center as Clinical Efficiency Director. Throughout his career, he has led system program improvement and operational redesign, partnering with interdisciplinary teams and physician leaders to advance high-value inpatient care.

As Division Chief, Dr. Mehta enhances clinical programs that serve both patient needs and institutional priorities. He mentors faculty, supports career growth, and aligns service lines with the division’s academic and scholarly mission.

His clinical and scholarly interests include transitions of care, team-based delivery models, and workforce optimization for quality and throughput—developed in close partnership with nursing, care coordination, performance improvement, and other physician service line leaders.

As Clinical Efficiency Director, Dr. Mehta strives to improve inpatient access in support of Keck Medical Center’s tertiary/quaternary mission. In partnership with the Office of Performance and Transformation, he leads interdisciplinary care progression and discharge planning; drives capacity management to enhance throughput; and collaborates with nursing and care coordination on optimal discharge timing and patient flow—supported by predictive analytics and workflow-automation tools.

• American College of Physicians—New York Doctor’s Dilemma Competition: Represented SBUH Internal Medicine Residency in New York Competition, 2014
   – 2015
• American College of Physicians—National Doctor’s Dilemma Competition: Represented State of New York in National Competition, 2015
• Andy Guitteri Memorial Award: Intern of the Year, 2014
• Honors Sophomore Certificate at the University of Connecticut: Recipient, 2004
• Dean’s List for Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Connecticut: Recipient, 2003
   – 2007
• Academic Excellence Scholarship, 2002
   – 2006
• Keck Medical Center: Nominated for Excellence in Keck Professionalism Award, 2020
• Keck Medical Center: COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassador, 2020
• Keck Medical Center: Keck Physician of the Month, June, 2023
   – 2024
• Keck Medical Center: Nominated for Keck Physician of the Year, 2023
   – 2024
• USC Keck School of Medicine: 1st Place at USC’s 3rd Annual Medical Quality Symposium in category of Access and Efficiency, 2025

• Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY — Residency — 2016 — Internal Medicine
• Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY — Internship — 2014 — Internal Medicine
• St. George's University, True Blue, Greneda — M.D. — 2013 — Medicine
• University of Connecticut, Storis, CT — B.S. — 2007 — Molecular and Cell Biology

• Cardiac Arrest Quality Improvement and Education
• Quality Improvement in Transitions of Care

• A Programmatic Response, Including Bamlanivimab or Casirivimab-imdevimab Administration, Reduces Hospitalization and Death in COVID-19 Positive Abdominal Transplant Recipients. Transplantation. 2022 02 01; 106(2):e153-e157.. View in PubMed
• Brief ampakine treatments slow the progression of Huntington’s disease phenotypes in R6/2 mice. Neurobiol Dis. 2011 Feb; 41(2):436-44.. View in PubMed

• Klausner, Jeffrey
• Lenz, Heinz-Josef
• Aisen, Paul
• Terrault, Norah
• Ahearn, Aaron
• Young, Guy