USA Health chief medical officer chairs national trauma meeting

By Lindsay Mott

lmott@health.southalabama.edu

As chair of the Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) at the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, Michael Chang, M.D., chief medical officer for USA Health, recently led the group’s national meeting in Dallas where more than 2,000 health care providers from across the United States gathered for continuing education on treating patients with traumatic injuries.

The annual Scientific Meeting and Training, hosted by the ACS, provides education for trauma physicians and others that are involved in trauma care. With a focus on how to deliver the highest quality care to injured patients to optimize outcomes, the meeting is also designed to improve management of trauma centers and to ensure that each trauma center is compliant with the ACS’s Committee on Trauma’s optimal standards.

“During the meeting, we discussed the complex structure and evolving needs of trauma centers as well as how to improve processes in order to provide the highest quality of care for injured patients,” Chang said.

Chang has served as chair of TQIP for the past four years and is a recognized national expert in quality assessment and performance improvement. As chair, Chang helped to shaped meeting discussion topics and also presented and moderated meeting sessions.

“In my role as chief medical officer, I’m responsible for the quality of the care and the safety of the patients at USA Health,” Chang said. “Participating in national meetings helps us stay abreast with the state-of-the-art advances nationally in quality and safety for injured patients, as well as share innovative things we are doing in Mobile to improve the quality of care for the population we serve.”