IHI Patient Safety Congress

Dan Heath is the #1 New York Times bestselling author (or co-author) of five beloved business books: Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive, The Power of Moments, and Upstream.  His books have been translated into 33 languages and have sold over 4 million copies worldwide. His writing honors include: One of the best nonfiction books of the year, according to Amazon. One of the best audiobooks of the year, according to Apple. And the OWL award for Best Business Book of the Year. Dan hosts a podcast called: “What It’s Like to Be.” In every episode, he interviews someone from a different profession: a mystery novelist, a couples therapist, a rancher, and more. It landed on Apple’s ranking of the Top 50 Society & Culture podcasts. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin.  He lives now in Durham, North Carolina. 

Patricia McGaffigan MS, RN, CPPS is President, Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety, and Senior Advisor, Safety at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement where she serves as senior sponsor of the IHI’s Lucian Leape Institute, co-chair of the National Steering Committee for Patient Safety, and key liaison to IHI’s strategic relationships and initiatives for nursing and advancing a thriving workforce. She is the former COO and SVP of Safety at the National Patient Safety Foundation, graduate of the AHA-NPSF Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship Program and IHI Fellow, and nationally recognized speaker. Patricia serves on numerous national committees, taskforces, and technical expert panels, including the AHRQ Survey of Patient Safety Culture Technical Expert Panel, and the Joint Commission’s Journal on Quality and Patient Safety Editorial Advisory Board and Sentinel Event Alert Advisory Committee. Patricia is Commissioner, ANCC Pathway to Excellence, board member of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, the Foundation to Advance Nursing in Massachusetts, and the I-PASS Institute, and a member of Planetree’s Person-Centered Certification Committee. She is the recipient of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Lifetime Member Award, the 2023 University of North Texas Health Science Center’s Mary E. Luibel Distinguished Service Award and was named to the 2024 and 2023 Becker’s Review List of Patient Safety Experts to Know. Patricia received her BS in Nursing from Boston College and her MS in Nursing from Boston University.

Kelly Randall VP, Patient Safety & Compliance, Ascension. Kelly earned her PhD in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In her research, she studied the impact of high reliability practices on patient safety outcomes in pediatric hospitals. Kelly earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Auburn University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Alabama. Kelly is a Licensed Master’s Social Worker and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality. Kelly has extensive training as a Six Sigma Blackbelt and in Lean Six Sigma Healthcare.

Beverly Malone President and CEO, National League for Nursing, has led the National League for Nursing since 2007. She received her BSN and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Cincinnati and her M.S. in Adult Psychiatric Nursing from Rutgers University. She contributed to the groundbreaking IOM report, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health," and served on the Minority Health Federal Advisory Committee. With over 20 honorary degrees and numerous accolades, Dr Malone’s distinguished career has blended policy, education, administration, and clinical practice – including the position of federal deputy assistant secretary for health under President Bill Clinton.  Dr. Malone serves as vice chair at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Board of Directors, co-leads the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Health Professional Education and Communication Working Group, and serves on NAM’s Steering Committee. She is a member of ecoAmerica’s Leadership Circle Executive Committee. 

Charleen Tachibana Senior Vice President and Chief Quality, Safety and Patient Experience Officer, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, has served in executive positions including Hospital Administrator, Chief Nursing Officer, and most recently SVP and Chief Quality, Safety, and Patient Experience Officer for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Virginia Mason earned recognition for its innovative approach to quality and safety by adopting a management methodology to identify and eliminate waste while improving quality and safety. For two decades her work has included the study and application of the Toyota Production System to healthcare processes. She has taught and consulted internationally on this topic. Charleen earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Pacific Lutheran University, a Master of Nursing from the University of Washington and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Hardeep Singh Chief, Health Policy, Quality and Informatics Program, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, is Professor of Medicine at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt) at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. He leads research on diagnostic error reduction and health IT safety, influencing national and international initiatives by organizations like the National Academies, CDC, and WHO. A Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, he co-developed the ONC SAFER Guides, required by CMS for safe EHR use. He has won numerous awards, including the 2021 Eisenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement, for his contributions to patient safety and diagnostic excellence.

Craig Umscheid Director, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is an internist and clinical epidemiologist who serves as the Director of the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CQuIPS is one of three research centers at AHRQ, includes divisions of patient safety, patient safety organizations, healthcare associated infections, healthcare data and analytics, and quality improvement and measurement, and supports the safety and quality of healthcare through research, practice improvement, and data analysis and measurement. Prior to AHRQ, Dr. Umscheid was Chief Quality and Innovation Officer at the University of Chicago. He began his career at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the inaugural Vice Chair of Quality and Safety for the Department of Medicine, and co-founder and Director of Penn's Center for Evidence-based Practice. His career has been dedicated to disseminating and implementing research evidence into clinical practice to support patient care quality and safety. His work has been supported by AHRQ, PCORI, CDC and NIH, and described in over 125 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Umscheid volunteers as a hospitalist at Georgetown, where he is an Adjunct Professor.

Angela Ghiorso MSN, RN, CPPS, CPHQ, CCM, Director of Quality & Patient Safety, Sutter Valley Medical Foundation, is a Clinical Director of Ambulatory Quality and Patient Safety for Sutter Health in California. She has 17 years of diverse experience as a registered nurse in acute, ambulatory and home health settings, and has spent the last 8 years specializing in quality and patient safety. Angela currently serves on a national quality measure review committee, national patient safety workgroups, and was an IHI Fellow in 2024. Her credentials, including a Master of Science in Nursing, and certifications in Patient Safety (CPPS), Case Management (CCM) and Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), underscore her commitment to ensuring safe and high-quality care delivery for all patients.

Chris Longhurst MD, MS, is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at UC San Diego Health. This unique dual and complementary role provides leadership to medical staff, ensuring that standards and protocols are in place to provide the highest quality of care to patients, and positions digital transformation as a key tool in these efforts. As the executive Director for the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Center for Health Innovation, Dr. Longhurst also has responsibility for the artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio across the health system, managed through the development and hire of the inaugural Chief AI Officer for UC San Diego Health.

Within the UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Longhurst serves as an Associate Dean to help align education and research missions within the clinical environment and lead the journey to become a highly reliable, learning health system. As a faculty member in the Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Pediatrics, Dr. Longhurst also maintains an active clinical practice as a newborn hospitalist and vigorously pursues scholarship in care quality, patient safety, and informatics, especially healthcare AI.

Raj Srivastava, MD, MPH, is the Chief Clinical Programs Officer at Intermountain Health, where he oversees nine system-wide Clinical Programs which align clinical providers from across the enterprise to deliver evidence-based best practice in the areas of acute and ambulatory medical specialties, behavioral health, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurosciences, oncology, primary and preventive care, surgical specialties and digestive health, and women’s and neonatal health. Additionally, Dr. Srivastava is a Professor of Research and oversees Intermountain’s Healthcare Delivery Institute (HDI), a center for education, implementation science, and applied health services research. The HDI has accountability for the spread of clinical evidence-based practices across the integrated healthcare delivery system. Dr. Srivastava is a tenured Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and is a practicing hospitalist at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.