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A LITTLE ABOUT DR. MICHAEL HATZAKIS M.D
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Dr. Hatzakis has been board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for the last 20 years. Doctors in Physical Medicine are also called Physiatrists and focus on improving function and quality of life using skills of Orthopedic and neurological medicine, as well as having a thorough knowledge of the role of therapies in recovery. Click: Why see a physiatrist?.
Dr. Hatzakis graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering where he went on to pursue a Masters of Engineering degree. He completed the Post-baccalaureate Pre-medical Program at Columbia University before starting medical school at Stanford University.
Dr. Hatzakis worked as an engineer for almost a decade before entering medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. While attending medical school, he also worked in the department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford, Neurosurgery and Interventional Radiology. Among other projects, he developed neural prosthetic devices under a joint program between Stanford medical school and the Department of Electrical Engineering. He did his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr. Hatzakis then joined the University of Washington medical school faculty as an Academic Professor, in Seattle in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. There he published in the area of chronic disease, multiple sclerosis, treatment of fatigue in MS, and the use of Medical Informatics in support of individuals with disabilities.
During his tenure at the UW, he worked at the VA hospital and ran multiple programs to support our Veterans with disabilities including Director of Acute Neuro-Rehabilitation at the VA hospital and Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. He was a founder of the Subacute Rehabilitation Unit, and was a co-founder and associate director of one of two national VA Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence.
He left the University in 2005 and briefly entered solo practice in Bellevue near Overlake Hospital, but then moved to Issaquah to start the Rehabilitation Options of Issaquah (ROI) clinic. Dr. Hatzakis is skilled at business and building new clinical operations. ROI provided a much needed program for the community and as a result over the next 15 years, ROI grew 20% in volume and revenue annually, and had over 30 employees and served over 100 patients each day with multiple physicians, physical therapists, psychology, yoga, acupuncture, injections, medication management and coordination with community surgeons.
ROI then merged with Overlake Hospital, and became the Overlake Musculoskeletal Medicine department for which Dr. Hatzakis directed. He lead the hospital’s Operations and Information Technology committee, as well as creating a hospital and clinic-wide approach to assure Opioid prescribing safety. He is committed to assuring safe, consistent prescribing, while not allowing the Opioid crisis to limit patients who have a legitimate need for pain medications. See this article from HealthCare IT News on Informatics to support Opioid prescribing.
LEADERSHIP
One of Dr. Hatzakis’ interests is data science. Throughout his career, he has developed large data systems to support better medical decisions. While a professor at the University of Washington, and as a co-founder of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellent, and through his leadership in information technology, he developed a telehealth program for veterans with MS, a peer-reviewed website as an educational resource, and one of the largest clinical data repositories to provide high quality and more consistent care for veterans with MS nationally. He also started a Spine Rehabilitation Program at the American Lake VA hospital.
Over the last five years, through his leadership in the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R), he has spearheaded one of the most ambitious “big- data” projects to improve the quality of care for individuals with low back pain, and, with neurological disorders. With the support of the AAPM&R, it is his hope to use this “registry” to transform thousands of data points from practices throughout the country into systems that guide physicians to make better decisions caring for those with low back conditions and who have suffered a stroke. As a result of his leadership in the AAP&R Registries, he was asked to join the board of directors of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialty society in 2018. See this article on the AAPM&R registries.
Through Dr. Hatzakis medical and business leadership, he started Bellevue Rehabilitation Associates in 2005 to serve the holistic management of back pain, neck pain, workplace injuries, sports injuries and joint diseases. This practice slowly transformed into the Rehabilitation Options of Issaquah program that quickly grew to serve thousands of patients per year with five physicians, physical therapists, massage and psychotherapy to care for those with musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. This practice merged with Overlake Hospital in 2017, and he lead the newly formed department of Musculoskeletal Medicine and the department of Rehabilitation after joining Overlake until 2020.
Dr. Hatzakis lectures on the topics of back pain for primary care doctors and surgeons, cardiac rehabilitation, as well as multiple topics in Information Technology and Registries.
INTERESTS
Dr. Hatzakis has a broad range of interests. The theme is the outdoors. He has been an avid cyclist his entire adult life. In 2015, he started competitive road bike racing with the Hagen’s Berman Society Consulting Racing team and more recently with the Egencia bike team. He rides events and races throughout Washington and California. He is also an avid sailor and navigator and his favorite boat to race is the J-105. He has taken many long exploration trips with J120’s and J35 sailboats and loves to travel. He is interested in public service and as a ham radio operator, has been involved in emergency and disaster management with Bellevue and East Emergency Operations. He has two wonderful daughters.