UT Southwestern Medical School student Aishwarya Vishwanath and her team have been honored with a Best Abstract award from the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF).

Ms. Vishwanath, on track to graduate from Medical School in 2020 with Distinction in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, was honored for her abstract, “Using Audit and Feedback to Reduce Avoidable Transfusions in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.” She will be officially recognized in October at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists with the 2018 Ellison C. Pierce, Jr., M.D. Award for Best Abstract in Patient Safety from the APSF.

The abstract concluded that engaging clinicians in the design of an audit and feedback system is an effective way to promote changes in physician behavior and reduce avoidable blood transfusions. 

Ms. Vishwanath worked with Pratik Shinde, a UT Arlington engineering graduate student, and Dr. Philip Greilich, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Management and her faculty sponsor on the project. Other team members were: Dr. Jerzy Lysikowski, Director in the Office of Medical Education; Dr. Chaofan Yuan, Senior Education Evaluation and Sim Analyst in the Office of Medical Education; Mandy McBroom, Research Study Coordinator in Anesthesiology and Pain Management; Eleanor Phelps and Patty Brown, RNs in the Office of Quality Improvement, Quality Safety, and Outcomes Education; Dr. Jessica Pruszynski, Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, and Clinical Sciences; Dr. Lynn Huffman, Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery; and Dr. Susan Ferreira, Associate Professor of Engineering at UT Arlington.

Reflecting on the impact of this project, Dr. Greilich said students and trainees can play a vital role in helping health systems shift focus to value-based care. In this case, Ms. Vishwanath dedicated 12 weeks to a Scholarly Activity in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety – the activity is one facet of the UT Southwestern Medical School curriculum revamped a few years ago. As a Distinction student, her total time on the project extended 14 more weeks.

“This dedicated time for the activity allows students to provide ideas and energy that contribute to new quality improvement initiatives within the health system,” said Dr. Greilich, who holds the S.T. “Buddy” Harris Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Anesthesiology.

The abstract award is named after the late Dr. Pierce, APSF founder and an early leader in promoting patient safety.