Improving patient care has always been a top priority for the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and its clinical partners. As medical providers continually search for innovative solutions to enhance the safety and quality of care for their patients, Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix has facilitated that drive through its Annual House Staff Quality and Safety Day.
For the last five years, Banner has held the competition annually, inviting residents and fellows to come up with inventive, cost-effective and research-backed projects that will improve health care.
For the 2017-2018 year, Banner - UMC Phoenix medical staff donated prizes of $2,500 each to the three semi-finalists from the High Value Care Contest, who then had half a year to implement their project. A fourth “wild card” semi-finalist was also selected for the final $2,500 prize.
The members in the picture of High Value Idea (HVI) winners, co-chairs and wild card winners are:
- (front row) Emily Mallin, MD (co-chair), Michael Rowley, MD, Kelly Saunders, MD, Mandy Boltz, MD, Shawn Abreu, MD, Asfiya Yunus, MD.
- (back row) Richard Gerkin, MD (co-chair), Kayvahn Steck-Bayat, MD, Steve R. Brown, MD (co-chair), Cheryl O'Malley, MD (co-chair).
Finalist
- Kelley Saunders, MD, obstetrics and gynecology, “Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Gynecologic Surgery: Following the Recommendations.”
Semi-Finalists
- Mandy Boltz, MD, Shawn Abreu, MD, and Asfiya Yunus, MD, family medicine, “Reducing Overuse of Telemetry Monitoring.”
- Michael Rowley, MD, internal medicine, “Decreasing Fresh Frozen Plasma Transfusions in Cirrhotic Patients with use of Thromboelastography."
- Kayvahn Steck-Bayat, MD, minimally invasive gynecologic surgery fellow, “A Randomized Trial Comparing Two Patient Positioning Systems in Robotic Gynecologic Surgery."
*Each of these projects was presented at the event.
The House Staff Quality and Safety Day also includes a poster showcase of the quality improvement projects being led by residents and fellows.
The program was started five years ago by Steven Brown, MD, and Cheryl O’Malley, MD.
2017-2018 Chairs
- Steve R. Brown, MD, program director for the Family Medicine Residency.
- Richard Gerkin, MD, medical director for Graduate Medical Education Research.
- Emily Mallin, MD, director of Academic Medical Service.
- Cheryl O'Malley, MD, program director, Internal Medicine Residency program.