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 adherence to evidence-based best practices while fostering continuous learning, collaboration, and teamwork. Through education, engagement, and a culture of accountability and respect, we strive 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 Anesthesiology Safety & Quality 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.
  • Working in partnership with the hospital and the BJC HealthCare system to align and advance key quality and safety metrics, priorities, and initiatives.
Anesthesiology Safety & Quality Collaborative

The Anesthesiology Safety & Quality Collaborative is a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, researchers, and data analysts, with representation from all divisions within the department. The purpose of this collaborative is to provide strategic oversight of quality improvement (QI) priorities, initiatives, and projects. It also serves as a forum where QI project leads can present and refine their ideas, receive constructive feedback to strengthen proposals, better understand data capabilities and limitations, and seek support in addressing barriers as projects are developed and implemented.

QI project submission can be completed here: WUDA QI project & Data Request Submission Form

Anesthesiology Performance Improvement and Reporting Exchange (ASPIRE)

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.

Learn how to set up your ASPIRE account to access your Individual ASPIRE MPOG Quality Dashboard here»

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:

Portrait of Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Director of Patient Safety and Quality

Portrait of Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

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

Admin: Alexis Williams

Andrea Reidy, MD

Andrea Reidy, MD

Director of Patient Safety; Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

SAFETY Review Committee:

not-pictured

Sennaraj Balasubramanian, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Portrait of Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Mara Bollini, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS

Director of Patient Safety and Quality

Portrait of 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

Kelly Chilson, MD

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

Leon du Toit, MD

Leon du Toit, MBChB, FCA(SA)

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

Portrait of Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Division Chief, Regional & Ambulatory Anesthesiology

Interim Admin: Lisa Parks

Catherine Foster, MD

Catherine Foster, MD

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

Portrait of Jason Gillihan, MD

Jason Gillihan, MD

Professor, Anesthesiology

Portrait of 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)

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Portrait of Omokhaye Higo, MD, MBA

Omokhaye Higo, MD, MBA

Professor of Anesthesiology

Portrait of Katie Holzer, PhD, LCSW

Katie Holzer, PhD, LCSW

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Portrait of Danish Jaffer, MD

Danish Jaffer, MD

Program Director, Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship; Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology; OB/IVF POD Leader

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

Portrait of Chris Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Chris Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Associate Professor, Anesthesiology; POD 2 Leader

Portrait of Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Jooyoung Maeng, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Portrait of Bruno Maranhao, MD, PhD

Bruno Maranhao, MD, PhD

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

Portrait of Lukas H. Matern, MD

Lukas H. Matern, MD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology; Radiology/ECT POD Leader

Portrait of Erica McCarthy

Erica McCarthy

Patient Safety Coordinator

Portrait of 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

Portrait of Arianna Montes de Oca Angarita, MD

Arianna Montes de Oca Angarita, MD

Medical School: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogot Facultad de Medicina

Portrait of Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

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

Admin: Alexis Williams

Portrait of Debra Pulley, MD

Debra Pulley, MD

Professor, Anesthesiology

Andrea Reidy, MD

Andrea Reidy, MD

Director of Patient Safety; Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Portrait of Jessica Sanford, MD

Jessica Sanford, MD

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology

Portrait of 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

Portrait of Brian Torres

Brian Torres

Director, Nurse Anesthesia Program

Branden Yee, MD, MPH

Branden Yee, MD, MPH

Director of Anesthesia at the Ambulatory Surgery Center

Interim Admin: Lisa Parks

Review Improve Strengthen Educate (RISE) Moderators:

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

Kelly Chilson, MD

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

Portrait of Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Mitchell Fingerman, MD, FASA

Division Chief, Regional & Ambulatory Anesthesiology

Interim Admin: Lisa Parks

Bradley Fritz, MD

Bradley Fritz, MD, MSCI

Co-Medical Director, Surgical ICU; Instructor, Anesthesiology

Stephen Gregory, MD

Stephen Gregory, MD

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

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Christopher Ryan King, MD, PhD

Ryan King, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology; POD 5 Leader

Portrait of 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 Wagner Stevens, MD

Tracey Stevens, MD

Associate Division Chief, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology

Interim Admin: Lisa Parks

MPOG DATA/QUALITY TEAM:

Portrait of 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)

Admin: Meredith McLaughlin

Portrait of Jena Isaacson

Jena Isaacson

Medical Informaticist II

York Jiao, MD

York Jiao, MD

Director of Clinical Informatics; Associate Professor, Anesthesiology

Portrait of Alexander Kronzer

Alexander Kronzer

Medical Informaticist III

Portrait of Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

Bethany Pennington, PharmD, BCPS

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

Admin: Alexis Williams

Portrait of Mateo Perez

Mateo Perez

Database Administrator II