Awards Support 7 Innovative Quality Improvement Projects

Seven quality improvement projects — including those aimed at improving communication in the intensive care unit, colonoscopy screenings and obesity assessment — have been funded with 2013-2014 Quality Improvement Awards.

The grants of up to $3,000 each are awarded annually through UB’s Office of Graduate Medical Education.

The award-winning teams from three clinical departments and their projects are listed below.

Ali Abbas, MD, fellow
Faculty mentor: Abha Rani, MD, clinical assistant professor
Project: “Improving the Quality of Screening Colonoscopy at ECMC”

Wudeneh Mulugeta, MD, resident
Faculty mentor: Roberto O. Diaz Del Carpio, MD, clinical assistant professor
Project: “Improving Patient Safety When Using Aspirin for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Hertel-Elmwood Internal Medicine Center”

Sumeet Munjal, MD, resident
Faculty mentor: Roberto O. Diaz Del Carpio, MD, clinical assistant professor
Project: “Improving the Initial Assessment of Obesity at Hertel-Elmwood Internal Medicine Center”

Jaclyn Schneider, MD, fellow
Faculty mentor: Amy A. Case, MD, assistant professor
Project: “Advancing Communication at Buffalo VA Medical Center through the Implementation of Family Meetings in the Intensive Care Unit”

Andrew Fanous, MD, resident
Faculty mentor: Jody Leonardo, MD, assistant professor
Project: “Role of Preoperative Worksheets in Reducing Surgical Cancellations and Decreasing Patient Morbidity”

Hakeem Shakir, MD, resident
Faculty mentor: Jody Leonardo, MD, assistant professor
Project: “Solving the ‘Lost to Follow Up’ Dilemma:  A Retrospective Cohort Study”

Jeremy Killion, MD, and Renee Triplet, DO, fellows
Faculty mentor: Maude E. Dull, MD, clinical assistant professor
Project: “Improving Pediatric ED to PICU and OR to PICU Handoffs Using the I-PASS Model”