Clinical Quality Fellowship Program

The Clinical Quality Fellowship Program (CQFP) supports the training and professional development of early- and mid-career physicians and nurses with the specific purpose of helping them to lead and champion quality improvement and patient safety efforts within their hospitals.  Through an intensive 15-month training session, regional leaders in health care quality teach the fellows proven tools and techniques to improve the quality, efficiency, and safety of patient care within their institutions.  Participating fellows then bring their new knowledge, skills, and strategies back to their institutions, where they are prepared to take on leadership roles and act as agents of change.  Co-led by the United Hospital Fund and the Greater New York Hospital Association, the program is intended to create a lasting infrastructure supporting quality improvement in the greater New York area.

Project Contact:  Hillary Jalon

To see the names of the first three classes of fellows, and the hospitals that sponsored their participation, click below:

2011-2012 Class of Clinical Quality Fellows

2010-2011 Class of Clinical Quality Fellows

2009-2010 Class of Clinical Quality Fellows

 
Capstone Projects

One of the signature elements of the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program is the capstone project.  Working with an interdisciplinary team, fellows conceptualize, design, and lead projects, endorsed by their hospital leadership, to advance a patient safety or quality improvement goal in their own hospital.  The 15 fellows who make up the 2010-2011 Class recently completed their capsone projects.  Their projects, briefly described below, cover a diverse range of quality and safety priorities. 

Some fellows experienced modest success in their projects while others had such notable achievements that their results may be published in peer-reviewed journals.  Most important, the fellows have gained valuable knowledge and skills that will help them lead innovative quality improvement and patient safety projects at their institutions over the course of their careers.

Outpatient Care

Reena Agarwal, MD, MPH, Montefiore Medical Center, focused on improved blood pressure control within an adult clinic population.

Amanda Falick Ascher, MD, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, created an expedited medication refill process for stable patients on chronic medications in an internal medicine clinic setting.

LeWanza M. Harris, MD, MPH, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, improved blood pressure management among diabetic patients in a community health center.

Emergency Department

Kevin Baumlin, MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, redesigned emergency department space to expedite physician contact with patients and reduce the rate of their leaving unseen.

Christopher McStay, MD, FACEP, NYU Langone Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital Center, improved patient education and satisfaction through an expedited discharge process for urgent care patients.

Purvi Shah, MD, Montefiore Medical Center, expedited the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord compression in emergency department patients before permanent damage occurs.

Admissions

Luke Hermann, MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, created better electronic medical record documentation to improve patient handoffs between the emergency department and inpatient floors.

David Rosenberg, MD, MPH, FACP, FSHM, North Shore University Hospital, streamlined the admission process for non-surgical patients who come through the emergency department for inpatient care.

Inpatient Care

Rajan Gurunathan, MD, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, sought to better control glucose levels in diabetic hospital inpatients.

Peter K. Kim, MD, FACS, Jacobi Medical Center, decreased the incidence of infections in surgical inpatients by improving the administration of antibiotic therapy.

Yasuharu Okuda, MD, FACEP, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation/ Institute for Medical Simulation and Advanced Learning, standardized electronic medical record documentation for patient intubations.

Anunta Virapongse, MD, MPH, Lenox Hill Hospital, focused on improving glucose management among diabetic inpatients by educating clinicians about coordinating meals with insulin administration.

Post-Discharge Care

Ramiro Jervis, MD, Mount Sinai Hospitalist Group, reduced avoidable readmissions of medical inpatients through improved coordination of follow-up care with primary care providers.

Samar Raza, MD, John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, reduced avoidable readmissions among discharged patients with congestive heart failure through more effective patient education.

Maria Basile, MD, John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, focused on improving communications between hospital administration and physicians by creating a physician-targeted website portal.