This year’s summit focused on patient safety and featured keynote speaker John J. Nance, healthcare and aviation safety/quality expert and award winning author of “Why Hospitals Should Fly: The Ultimate Flight Plan to Patient Safety and Quality Care.” Nance’s address featured practical solutions on how to improve the quality of patient care by bridging the culture and communication disconnect between Physicians, nurses, and staff.
This year’s event brought together more than 300 clinical and hospital leaders.
“These health care leaders not only deliver the best in emergency care, but they are developing solutions that impact global health through research, education, leadership, knowledge translation, and clinical outreach in Emergency Medicine.” – Nick Zenarosa, MD, FACEP – IES Founder and Chief Medical Officer
Ali Farzad, MD, FAAEM received the John Marx Quality Award for high quality of work, exemplary service, and pursuit of excellence in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Farzad completed his residency and a fellowship in cardiovascular emergencies at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is currently a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Physician at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
Seamus Lonergan, MD, FACEP received the Dighton Packard Leadership Award for inspirational and effective leadership in making an extraordinary difference in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Lonergan began his medical training at the University of California – San Francisco and did his residency in Emergency Medicine at Highland General Hospital in Oakland. He serves as an emergency Physician at Baylor University Medical Center – Dallas and is the Medical Director at the Baylor Scott & White – Irving Emergency Department.
Diane Taylor, NP received the APP Service Award for exceptional work ethic, undaunted devotion, team spirit, and outstanding patient care in Emergency Medicine. Taylor earned a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s in nursing administration from Baylor University. She also holds a Nurse Practitioner certification and has been with the Baylor healthcare system in Grapevine for 16 years.
In the Quality Poster Contest, awards were given to IES clinicians for original research on critical quality of care issues.
First place: John S. Garrett, MD, MRA, FACEP, Ali Farzad, MD, FAAEM, Seamus Lonergan, MD, FACEP, and Robert Risch, MD, MBA, FACEP evaluated the ADP and HEART protocol that reduced unnecessary hospital admissions for chest pain by 10% in nine North Texas hospitals.
Second place: John S. Garrett, MD, MRA, FACEP, and Robert Risch, MD, MBA, FACEP implemented a methodology to benchmark radiology imaging utilization, which over the first nine months was reduced by 12% — amounting to a cost savings of $1.1 million — while maintaining quality of care.
Third place: The Department of Emergency Medicine at John Peter Smith Health Network, Fort Worth studied optimal measurement intervals for four emergency department crowding estimation tools to find a way to lessen the burden on emergency department personnel by reducing the frequency with which they should assess overcrowding.
Educational sessions included these topics: Introduction to a Culture of Safety, A Safe Emergency Department, Avoiding Medical Errors, Quality, and Communication, Identifying Human Trafficking, Legal Cases, and Critical Procedures.
