Gerald Hickson, M.D., senior vice president for quality, safety and risk prevention, the Joseph C. Ross Chair for Medical Education and Administration and professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, will speak on “Professional Accountability and the Pursuit of a Culture of Safety and Respect” from noon to 1 p.m. May 5 in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.
Since 1990, Dr. Hickson’s research has focused on why families choose to file suit, why certain physicians attract a disproportionate share of claims and how to identify and intervene with high-risk physicians. His work has resulted in more than 150 peer review articles and chapters; several educational initiatives to promote disclosure of medical errors and address behaviors that undermine a culture of safety; and the development of PARS (Patient Advocacy Reporting System), a program that uses unsolicited patient complaint data as the basis for tiered interventions on high-risk peer colleagues. It has been implemented in more than 70 hospitals and health systems nationwide.
In 2013, Dr. Hickson was appointed senior vice president of quality, safety, and risk prevention for Vanderbilt Health Systems to further support VUMC’s pursuit of high reliability and accountability. In this role, Dr. Hickson is charged with furthering the Vanderbilt way for addressing safety and quality and bringing greater alignment among the medical center’s efforts to improve quality and the patient experience through collaborations spanning the institution with informatics, hospital operations, learning initiatives and the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network.
He is speaking as the guest of Harris Frankel, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical office at Nebraska Medicine and associate professor of neurological sciences at UNMC.