For the third consecutive year, the Department of Anesthesiology dedicated a full day to Quality and Patient Safety (QPS) education.
The course, held August 15, provided a foundation in quality improvement (QI) methodology and served as a springboard for resident and fellow driven QI projects that continue throughout the academic year. Developed and taught by Nicole Hitti, QPS administrator, and Michelle Evangelista, a clinical systems engineer, the curriculum this year included human factors, culture of safety, and adverse events disclosure.
Participation was at its highest, with 20 CA-1 residents, 16 fellows, and a number of faculty QI mentors in attendance.
Guest lecturers included Dr. Michael Loftus, associate chief quality officer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, who remarked that the Department of Anesthesiology has developed a stellar program.
“I think it’s a model for how other departments should get their trainees involved in QI methodology,” said Dr. Loftus. “It was a tremendous commitment on the part of the department, and it was fantastic to see that it supports all the trainees for that type of an event to take the entire day and really devote it to learning process improvement,” he added.
Others instrumental in organizing and faciliting the course included Dr. Patricia Mack, associate professor of clinical anesthesiology and vice chair of patient safety and quality improvement, Dr. Paul Riegelhaupt, assistant professor of anesthesiology, Emir O’Hara, QPS coordinator, and Lisa Cabrera, residency program coordinator. Additional facilitators were Anna Nachamie, operations administrator for the Center for Perioperative Outcomes and for medical education, and Lynn Kim and Paula Tinghitella, clinical systems engineers.
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