Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine Announces New Board Members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Evanston, IL—(May 16, 2019) The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) today announced three new members to its Board of Directors:

• Helen Burstin, MD, MPH Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies;
• Beth Daley Ullem, MBA, a nationally recognized governance expert and advocate for safety and quality in health care; and
• Robert Trowbridge, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at Maine Medical Center.

Each year, diagnostic errors affect 12 million adults in outpatient settings and they are the most common cause of medical errors reported by patients. SIDM is the only organization focused solely on the problem of diagnostic error and improving the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis.

Burstin, Daley Ullem, and Trowbridge’s service began May 15 and the initial Board term is for three years.

“The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine’s mission is to catalyze and lead change to improve diagnosis and eliminate harm from diagnostic error, in partnership with patients, their families, the healthcare community and every interested stakeholder,” said David Newman Toker, MD, PhD, President of SIDM. “These three leaders bring a breadth of experience that will be of great service to that mission.”

New Board Members

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH is the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS). CMSS and its 43-member medical societies represent almost 800,000 U.S. physician members. CMSS member societies collaborate to enhance the quality of care delivered in the U.S. healthcare system and to improve the health of the public.

Beth Daley Ullem, MBA is a nationally recognized governance expert and advocate for safety and quality in health care. Beth works with health system leadership teams, boards, and healthcare industry leaders to develop programs that improve the quality of patient care and better enable boards to provide oversight of quality and safety. Beth was the project lead and lead author for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) White Paper: Framework for Effective Governance of Health System Quality. She was also an expert contributor to Leading a Culture of Safety: A Blueprint for Success.

Robert Trowbridge, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. He is a clinician-educator with expertise in teaching clinical reasoning and avoidance of diagnostic error. He has won over 20 clinical teaching awards and remains clinically active as a hospitalist. His research has centered on ways of helping to identify diagnostic errors and provide feedback to clinicians in a manner that improves diagnostic reliability with over 30 peer-reviewed publications and 20 book chapters. He served as the Co-Chair of the SIDM Education Committee from 2013-2016 and was a longtime member of the Planning Committee for the International Diagnostic Error in Medicine conference, chairing the conference in 2016 and 2017.

These new board members will serve alongside other SIDM board members:

David E. Newman-Toker, MD, PhD, President SIDM Board, Professor of Neurology, Ophthalmology, & Otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He serves as Director of the Division of Neuro-Visual & Vestibular Disorders in the Department of Neurology and Director of the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence.

Timothy J. Mosher, MD, Secretary, Kenneth L. Miller Chair of Radiology and Distinguished Professor of Radiology and Orthopedic Surgery at the Penn State University College of Medicine.

Edward Hoffer, MD, Treasurer, Associate Professor of Medicine, part-time, at Harvard Medical School and Senior Scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where he is Assistant Director of the Laboratory of Computer Science.

Jen Campisano, JD, Attorney.

Gurpreet Dhaliwal, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco.

Tom S. Lee, PhD, MBA, CEO and Founder of SA Ignite, a cloud-based technology company whose mission is to help healthcare providers successfully navigate the transition to value-based care.

David L. Meyers, MD, FACEP, an emergency physician and former Chair of Emergency Medicine at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.

Dana Siegal, RN, CPHRM, CPPS, Director of Patient Safety for CRICO Strategies, a division of the Harvard Medical Institutions.

Paul L. Epner, MBA, MEd (Ex-officio), Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM).

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About the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM)
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine catalyzes and leads change to improve diagnosis and eliminate harm from diagnostic error. We work in partnership with patients, their families, the healthcare community and every interested stakeholder. SIDM is the only organization focused solely on the problem of diagnostic error and improving the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis. In 2015, SIDM established the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis, to increase awareness and actions that improve diagnosis. Members of the coalition represent hundreds of thousands of healthcare providers and patients—and the leading health organizations and government agencies involved in patient care. Together, we work to find solutions that enhance diagnostic safety and quality, reduce harm, and ultimately, ensure better health outcomes for patients. Visit www.improvediagnosis.org to learn more.