(January 23, 2017) – The research of top physicians in the Halifax Health – Family Medicine Residency Program was recognized at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 28th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care held in December in Orlando. The physicians joined nearly 6,000 healthcare professionals at the international forum to gain actionable ideas and to effect real change in healthcare quality and safety.
Halifax Health – Family Medicine Residency physicians and faculty submitted four storyboards highlighting their research for presentation at the IHI forum. The four storyboard topics included:
– Establishing the Physical Health Needs of Victims of Domestic Violence by Kyle Correll, MD; Susan W. Howard, MD; Blake DePaul; Shane Ganga; and Emma Robertson Blackmore, PhD
– Implementation of A Physician-Led Rapid Response Team to Decrease Code Blue Calls by Rhonda Verzal, MD; Bich Nguyen, MD; Tara Fritze, MD; Michael Landau, MD; Charity Eko, MD; Blake DePaul; Jonathan Harvey, MD; Jennifer Kirkman, MD; Carrie Vey, MD; Ginny Kwong, MD; Carl Chotas, MD; Grant Howard, MD; Roy Lemaster, MD; and Emma Robertson Blackmore, PhD
– Electronic Tracking of Opiod Prescriptions Among Family Medicine Physicians by Leslie D. Williams, MD; Jason Keister, MD; Shanie Foster, RN, MSN, MBA; John Shelton, MD; and Emma Robertson Blackmore, PhD
–Improving Patient Safety Event Reporting Among Family Medicine Residents and Faculty: A Mixed Methods Approach by Emma Robertson Blackmore, PhD; Bich Nguyen, MD; Leslie Williams, MD; Terri Long, RN, MSN, LHCRM, Steven Miles, MD; and Rhonda Verzal, MD
All four storyboard submissions were accepted by IHI – three of which were displayed at the Resident and Student Storyboard Walkaround Session. Even more impressive, the storyboard created by Rhonda Verzal, MD, associate program director for the Halifax Health – Family Medicine Residency Program, was selected – as one of just six storyboards from 600 submissions – to be showcased during a focused walkthrough presentation by IHI leadership at the scientific symposium. This opportunity allowed presenters the chance to learn from their peers as they demonstrated how they can play a critical role in improving healthcare both during their training and in their future careers.
The Halifax Health – Family Medicine Residency Program has an IHI Open School chapter, one of six in Florida and the only one in Volusia County. It was established last year with Kaiser Family Foundation and sponsorship by Rhonda Verzal, MD, as faculty sponsor and Halifax Health Chief Quality Officer Steven Miles, MD, as executive sponsor.
Halifax Health is the longest standing community-based family medicine residency program in the state of Florida. The three-year program provides comprehensive family medicine training in inpatient and outpatient settings that allows graduates to feel confident practicing in any milieu. The program provides sequential and gradually increasing ambulatory care responsibility as well as realistic experiences required of family physicians.
Halifax Health
Recognized by The Joint Commission as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, Halifax Health serves Volusia and Flagler counties, providing a continuum of healthcare services through a network of organizations including a tertiary hospital, community hospital, psychiatric services, a cancer treatment center with four outreach locations, the area’s largest hospice, a center for inpatient rehabilitation, primary care walk-in clinics, a walk-in clinic specializing in women’s health, two community clinics, three children’s medical practices, a home healthcare agency, and an exclusive provider organization. Halifax Health offers the area’s only Level II Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Emergency Department, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Services, complete Neurosurgical Services, OB Emergency Department and Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for babies born as early as 28 weeks. For more information, visit halifaxhealth.org.
