Reflecting an organization-wide focus on continually advancing the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical care, the fourth annual Quality Improvement (QI) Symposium was held on May 11, 2017. The half-day event provided a chance for medical students, residents, and fellows to present QI studies, receive feedback from colleagues and mentors, and hear a keynote address from Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, MA, CHI, CDM, chief diversity officer, UW Health.

A total of 37 projects were submitted to the symposium, 16 of which (47 percent) were conducted by trainees in the Department of Medicine. “This included 41 fellows, 3 residents, 13 MD and MPH faculty mentors in the department,” said Ian Todaro, MS, fellowship coordinator, Department of Medicine. Noting that the symposium was open to multidisciplinary professionals including advanced practice providers, nurses, and occupational and physical therapists, Mr. Todaro explained that this year’s event occurred through collaboration between the Department of Medicine Office of Education and UW Health Graduate Medical Education. "The DOM Fellowship QI program was glad to join the larger UW Health QI organization to expand the exposure of the UW community to the wonderful array of projects being conducted through our health system, said Laura Maursetter, DO, associate professor (CHS), Nephrology.

One of the sponsors of the symposium was the UW Health Resident Quality and Safety Committee (RQSC), which is responsible for promoting resident participation in multidisciplinary quality improvement, patient safety, resident education, and research. The RQSC is co-chaired by Internal Medicine resident Peter Kleinschmidt, who will serve as Chief Resident in 2017-18.

Posters presented by Department of Medicine Trainees were:

• Barriers to Optimizing Diagnostic Testing for C. Difficile Infection - Allison Cormier, MD; Bradley Smith, MD; Andrew Meredith, BS; Mary Jo Knobloch, PhD, MPH; Nasia Safdar MD, PhD
• Documentation of the Diabetic Foot Examination in Diabetes Clinic - Tanya Blaty, DO; Andy Cheng, MD; Rowan Karaman, MD; Marcos Lamas, MD; Rahul Sharma, MD
• Family Meeting Scheduling and Documentation in TLC - Richard A. Nunez Lopez, MD; William J. Ehlenbach, MD, MS
• Improving Access to Advanced Care Planning Discussions in Primary Care - Julia Lubsen, MD; Wen-Jan Tuan, MS, MPH; Ellen Gordon, MD; Jennifer Edgoose, MD, MPH
• Improving Geriatric Pneumococcus 23 Vaccine Rates in a Community Geriatric Clinic - Mary Ball, MD; Maureen Jefferson, RN; Jeff Pier, IT Support UW Health
• Improving Physician Efficiency and Minimizing Chemotherapy-Related Errors Through Implementation of Standardized Prescribing Templates at the William S. Middleton VA - David Kosoff, MD; Gil Harmon, MD
• Inferior Vena Cava Filter – Appropriate Use and Retrieval - Waddah Arafat MD; Rena Shah, MD, MS; Anita Turk, MD; Bilal Rahim, MD: Ryan Mattison, MD
• Intervention to Improve Quality and Efficiency of VA Oncology Referral Process - Anita Turk, MD; Bilal Rahim, MD: Kimberly Ku, MD; Mark Albertini, MD
• Intervention to Reduce the Length of Stay for TAVR Patients - Raza Abbas, MD; Shenil Shah, MD; Andy Pistner, MD; Umer Ali, MD; Dan Modaff , MD; Asif Jafferani, MD; James Ballard, MD; Ruben Alexanian, MD; Nicole Reilly, MD; Sverrir Gunnarsson, MD; Graham Adsit, MD; Muhamad Safiia, MD; Guarav Tyagi, MD; Kamil Muhyieddeen; Peter Rahko, MD; Miguel Leal, MD
• Outpatient Management of Neutropenic Fever in Selected Oncology Patients - Christopher D’Angelo, MD; Rena Shah, MD, MS; Cameron Ninos, PharmD; Ryan Mattison, MD; Mike Reed, RPh, BCOP, BCPS; Mary Mably, RPH, BCOP
• Outpatient Quality Improvement Initiative to Revoke a Misdiagnosis of Penicillin Allergy in Adult VA/UW Allergy Patients with Chronic Sinusitis - Cheryl Steiman, MD, Evelyn Angulo, MD
• Patient Education Protocol in Sleep Medicine Clinics at the VA - Shane Creado, MD; Kenneth Casey, MD; David Plante, MD
• Pneumococcal Vaccine Compliance in Kidney Transplant Patients - Dia Rattanavich, MD, Laura Maursetter, DO
• Quantitative Outcomes Following Implementation of Agrace Hospice Identification Banner - Timothy Holden MD, MS; Liana Eskola DO; Jasmine Hudnall, DO; Kimberly Kopecky, MD; Jen Peterson, MD
• Implementation of QI Projects on a Residency Teaching Unit Through an Interdisciplinary Steering Committee - Yaoli Yang, MD; Megan Hall, MD; Sean O'Neill, MD
• Improving the Utilization of Expedited Stress Testing for Low Risk Emergency Department Patients from The American Center - Anne O'Connor, MD; Joseph Longino, MD