Quality & Safety

The goal of our Quality and Safety program is to ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and efficient anesthesia care through proactive oversight, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement. We aim to foster a transparent, safety-first culture throughout the department.

Quality & Patient Safety Commitment

We support the adherence to evidence-based best practices, fostering continuous learning and teamwork, and supporting our staff through education, engagement, and a culture of accountability and respect to ensure exceptional patient outcomes. We will achieve this by:

  • Monitoring and disseminating quality and safety metrics to clinicians and Health Service Organizations to ensure performance standards are met and outcomes are continuously evaluated.
  • Driving ongoing quality improvements through our Quality Improvement and Safety Collaborative* by identifying areas for growth and implementing targeted initiatives to enhance patient safety and clinical excellence.
  • Fostering transparency by maintaining open communication and clear reporting on key quality indicators and patient safety opportunities.
  • Promoting collaboration across stakeholders, including anesthesia providers, nursing staff, hospital administration, and other departments to support coordinated and informed decision-making.
  • Developing educational resources and supporting continuous learning through our Patient Safety efforts that oversee the identification of systems issues and the implementation of potential solutions.

*The Quality Improvement & Safety Collaborative is a multidisciplinary team of leaders and key stakeholders that collectively provide strategic oversight to the Center for INQUIRES and bridges the intersection between quality improvement and safety by analyzing trends, reporting, defining goals, and prioritizing initiatives.  

Anesthesiology Performance Improvement and Reporting Exchange

ASPIRE is the quality improvement arm of MPOG, focused on collecting and analyzing perioperative anesthesia data to track quality measures, benchmark performance, and enhance patient outcomes. In our department, we use MPOG ASPIRE to monitor a set of key quality measures, which are reviewed and updated annually. These measures are rigorously assessed through comprehensive case reviews by our MPOG team, in order to facilitate ongoing improvement in anesthesia care. Provider feedback is an essential component of this process, with providers receiving regular, personalized insights via email to guide their clinical performance and enhance patient safety.

Additionally, we use MPOG ASPIRE as a platform for research and QI projects, supporting data-driven initiatives to drive continuous innovation and improvement.

We have dedicated MPOG Quality Champions who engage in our daily local MPOG activities as well as representation on various MPOG Quality Subcommittees centrally.

Quality & Safety Teams

Quality & Safety Leads:

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Director of Patient Safety and Quality

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Associate Vice Chair of Quality & Safety; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Charlotte Stout

Andrea Reidy, MD

Andrea Reidy, MD

Director of Patient Safety; Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Amy Yelm, BSN, RN

Amy Yelm, BSN, RN

Patient Safety & Quality Coordinator

SAFETY Review Committee:

Sennaraj Balasubramanian, MD

Sennaraj Balasubramanian, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Director of Patient Safety and Quality

Jamie Brown-Shpiegel, MD

Jamie Brown-Shpiegel, MD

Assistant Residency Program Director of Recruitment, Integration, and Wellbeing; Program Director, Trauma Anesthesiology Fellowship; Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology; POD 4 Leader

Kelly Chilson, MD

Kelly Chilson, MD

Director of Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia, Director of Pediatric Anesthesiology Medical Student Rotation; Professor, Anesthesiology

Leon du Toit, MBChB, FCA(SA)

Leon du Toit, MBChB, FCA(SA)

Instructor, Anesthesiology; Attending Physician, Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning (CPAP)

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Division Chief, Regional & Ambulatory Anesthesiology; Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Kayla Hewitt

Catherine Foster, MD

Catherine Foster, MD

Assistant Professor, General Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine; Attending Physician, Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning (CPAP)

Jason Gillihan, MD

Jason Gillihan, MD

Professor, Anesthesiology

Marie Goez, CRNA

Marie Goez, CRNA

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist

Stephen Gregory, MD

Stephen Gregory, MD

Division Chief, Perioperative Medicine; Medical Director, Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning (CPAP); Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Omokhaye Higo, MD, MBA

Omokhaye Higo, MD, MBA

Professor of Anesthesiology

Danish Jaffer, MD

Danish Jaffer, MD

Program Director, Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship; Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Ivan Kangrga, MD, PhD

Ivan Kangrga, MD, PhD

Vice Chair for Health System Liaison; BJH Director of Perioperative Safety and Quality; Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Erin Hogg

Chris Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Chris Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Associate Professor, Anesthesiology; POD 2 Leader

Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Bruno Maranhao, MD, PhD

Bruno Maranhao, MD, PhD

Medical Director of the Plaza West CTICU; Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Lukas H. Matern, MD

Lukas H. Matern, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Molly McCormick, MD

Molly McCormick, MD

Division Chief, General Anesthesiology

Admin: Erin Hogg

Allison Mitchell, MD

Allison Mitchell, MD

Vice Chair for Education; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Shirley Vaughn

Arianna Montes de Oca Angarita, MD

Arianna Montes de Oca Angarita, MD

Medical School: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogot Facultad de Medicina

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Associate Vice Chair of Quality & Safety; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Charlotte Stout

Debra Pulley, MD

Debra Pulley, MD

Professor, Anesthesiology

Andrea Reidy, MD

Andrea Reidy, MD

Director of Patient Safety; Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Jessica Sanford, MD

Jessica Sanford, MD

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology

Charles Schrock, MD

Charles Schrock, MD

Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Kendall Smith, MD, PhD

Kendall Smith, MD, PhD

Assistant Residency Program Director, Residency Affairs; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Shirley Vaughn

Brian Torres

Brian Torres

Director, Nurse Anesthesia Program

Branden Yee, MD, MPH

Branden Yee, MD, MPH

Interim Division Chief of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital; Director of Anesthesia at the Ambulatory Surgery Center

Admin: Kayla Hewitt

Amy Yelm, BSN, RN

Amy Yelm, BSN, RN

Patient Safety & Quality Coordinator

Review Improve Strengthen Educate (RISE) Moderators:

George Richard Benzinger III, MD, PhD
Kelly Chilson, MD

Kelly Chilson, MD

Director of Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia, Director of Pediatric Anesthesiology Medical Student Rotation; Professor, Anesthesiology

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Division Chief, Regional & Ambulatory Anesthesiology; Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Kayla Hewitt

Stephen Gregory, MD

Stephen Gregory, MD

Division Chief, Perioperative Medicine; Medical Director, Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning (CPAP); Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Ryan King, MD, PhD

Ryan King, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology; POD 5 Leader

Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Andrea Reidy, MD

Andrea Reidy, MD

Director of Patient Safety; Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Preet Singh, MD

Preet Singh, MD

Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Tracey Stevens, MD

Tracey Stevens, MD

Associate Division Chief, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology

Admin: Kayla Hewitt

MPOG DATA/QUALITY TEAM:

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Director of Patient Safety and Quality

Stephen Gregory, MD

Stephen Gregory, MD

Division Chief, Perioperative Medicine; Medical Director, Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning (CPAP); Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Jena Isaacson

Jena Isaacson

Medical Informaticist II

York Jiao, MD

York Jiao, MD

Director of Clinical Informatics; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Alexander Kronzer

Alexander Kronzer

Medical Informaticist II

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Associate Vice Chair of Quality & Safety; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Admin: Charlotte Stout

Mateo Perez

Mateo Perez

Database Administrator