Healthcare Quality and Safety (HQS) is the study and prevention of adverse events, suboptimal care, ineffective treatments, inefficient processes and unnecessary clinical variation in health systems.

The Masters of Science (MS) builds upon the foundation concepts presented in the Graduate Certificate and focuses on the advanced application of HQS concepts necessary for the analysis, management, and improvement of HQS and the systems that deliver healthcare services. This option contains 10 online courses and a capstone project, which is specifically designed to enhance the student’s career trajectory. This option can be completed in two years.

The master’s degree option provides students the opportunity to study and apply HQS concepts in different healthcare environments around the world.

Learn more about the program here.

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Submissions from 2023

Improving Management of Chest Pain with a High Sensitivity Troponin Based Prootocol, Kristin Lohr, MD

Submissions from 2022

First, Do No Harm: Creating a Culture and Systems for Safety at Cleveland Clinic London, James Gutierrez, MD, FACP

Improving Functional Outcomes for Patients with Low Back Pain by Ensuring the Use of Evidence-Based Practice, Tiffany Prince-Kandrakota, PT, DPT, OCS

Reducing the Restraints and Seclusions in Child and Adolescent Psychiatirc Inpatient Unites at a Large Psychiatric Health System in Maryland - Staff Level Intervention, Ehsan I. Syed, MD

Limiting Waste: Reducing Urine Culture Testing in Inpatients, Reem Aoun, MD

Implementing a Fracture Liaison Service in an Orthopaedic Practice: Improving the Rate of Osteoporosis Diagnosis and Treatment in Patients with a Recent Fracture, Ryan Dopirak, MD

Implementation of Best Practice in Endoscope Management by RTs in an Urban University Hospital, Blessing Nwandiko, BS, RRT

Providing Preferred-Language Medication Instructions in a Pediatric Primary Care Practice, Amy Renwick, MD

Improving Diabetes Outcomes in a Primary Care Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hadeel Alkhairw, M.D

A Quality Improvement Initiative to Identify Remediable System Factors in Ambulatory Preventative Harm, Deepak Vedamurthy, MD, MSHS, FACP

Improving Surgical Outcomes: The Perioperative Surgical Home, Jerry R. Clark, MD, FASA, FASE Jr.

Reducing Medication Reconciliation Errors: Improvement Initiative in an Academic Children’s Hospital, Esterline J. Thoby, D.O.

Reducing Insulin Errors in a Pediatric Hospital, Shirley D. Viteri, MD

Submissions from 2021

Improving Ambulatory Hypertension Care in a Large Urban Health System, Joshua A. Copeland, MD, FACC

Improving Rates of Bone Mineral Density Screening and Vitamin D Sufficiency in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Amy J. Guido, MD

Increasing Timely Identification of Patients Who have Become Disconnected from High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) by Adjusting the Urgency Level of Pulse-Oximeter Alarms, Lynann M. Barker, RN, CCRN

The HRO Journey Doesn't Stop: Refreshing the Model Fifteen Years Later, Joel Bundy, MD, FACP, FAAPL, CPE

Implementation of a Urine Culture Stewardship Program to Reduce Catheter Acquired Urinary Tract Infections, Amy Franta, MD, CPE, FAAOS

Increasing Postpartum Diabetes Testing Rates and Transition to Primary Care for Women with Gestational Diabetes in the Outpatient OB/GYN Office, Dawn Steiner, MD, FACOG

Building Capacity for Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in a Large Urban Primary Care Practice: Addressing Provider Bias and Preparedness, Erica Li, MD

Medical image sharing is a barrier to Pediatric Urology telemedicine in Western Pennsylvania: a project to enhance quality and access to care, Janelle Fox, MD, FACS

Improve Mortality Ratios with Increased Utilization of Palliative and Hospice Care: Focus on the Numerator and the Denominator, Todd P. Levin, DO, FACOI, FIDSA

Improving Compliance with Preoperative Nasal Povidone-Iodine to Prevent Surgical Site Infections: A Pilot Quality Improvement Project in Vascular and Neurosurgery Units in a Community Teaching Hospital, Chizoba Ugwummadu, MD, FACP

Reiki and Mindfulness: Effects on Pain Levels, Patient Experience and Patient Satisfaction on an Inpatient Medical-Surgical Unit, Paula M. Breslin-Perry, BA, RN

Creating a Pediatric Inter Facility Transfer Team in a Community Hospital. A Multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Initiative., Ira Wardono, MD, CPE

Successful Strategies to Reduce Intensive Care Units Central Line Associated with Blood Stream Infections: The Las Vegas Hospital, Nouhad Damaj, MD, CPE

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Reducing Unnecessary Telemetry Utilization in a Community Hospital: A Value Enhancing Project, Deanna Blanchard, MD, CPE, FACS

A School-Based Intervention Using Insulin Degludec to Reduce Pediatric Readmissions for Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Patrick Hanley, MD

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Eliminating Overuse of Inpatient Inherited Thrombophilia Tests, Ruben Rhoades, MD

Increasing Community Access to COVID19 Testing: The Establishment of a Dedicated Testing Center at a Suburban Community Hospital, Andrew M. Rogers, MD

Submissions from 2020

Implementing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment for Early Onset Sepsis to Reduce Antibiotic Usage in the NICU, David Carola

Standardizing Antibiotic Prescribing by Applying the Principles of Antibiotic Stewardship in a Level IV NICU, Lynn Fuchs, MD

Enhancing Detection of Depression in Adolescents: Widespread Adoption of PHQ-9 Screening in Community Based Pediatric Practices, Michelle Karten, MD, FAAP

Decreasing Same-Day Cancellations in an Interventional Pain Management Practice Improves Patient Care and Productivity, William A. Rollé, Jr., MD

Using Early Breast Milk Expression to Improve Breast Milk Use Rates at Discharge from a Multi-Site Quality Improvement Initiative, Connie Andrejko, DO, IBCLC, FAAP

Improving Patient Postpartum Show Rates Through Increased Education and Scheduling, Ryan K. Brannon, MD

Improving Emergency Department Throughput Through Implementation of Split Flow, Deborah Dean, MD, FACEP

Use of a Clinical Pathway to Improve Bronchiolitis Care for Children in a Community Hospital, Hazel S. Guinto, MD

A Study of Care Gaps in the Treatment of Diabetic Patients: Leveraging SDOH in a Family Medicine Clinic, Andrew Dayneka, MD

Decreasing Arthroscopy Utilization in Patients with Knee Arthritis: Quality Improvement in Orthopedics, Charles Getz, MD

Improving quality in lumbar fusion surgery through correlation of surgical EBM indications with PROMs, James S. Harrop, MD, FACS

Improving Sepsis Outcomes in a Community Hospital: A Ten-Year Performance Improvement Experience with Interventions, Bundle Compliance, Sepsis Mortality, and Costs, Arthur Childs, DO, FACOI

Implementation of Delirium Screening and Measures to Decrease Delirium Incidence in a Pediatric ICU, Sandeep Tripathi, MD

Submissions from 2017

A Nurse-Driven Pathway to Improve Screening and Treatment of Opioid Withdrawal, Sarah B. Gleason, RN, BSN, CCRN

Implementation of Standardized Screening for Cognitive Dysfunction at a Multispecialty Group Practice, Francis R. Colangelo, MD

Implementation of Standardized Discharge Rounds as a Tool to Decrease Length of Stay in an Acute Care Hospital, Joanne Frey, PT

Comparing Effectiveness Between Departments of Initiatives to Improve Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation Patients, Mitul Kanzaria, MD

A Collaborative Approach to Improving Door-to-Needle Times in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke, Chika Odioemene, MSN, RN, CPHQ

Standardizing the Use of Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) Wipes in the Preoperative Area Prior to Colon, Hysterectomy, Total Hip, and Total Knee Surgery: Does Direct Observation Increase Compliance?, Margaret Rudisill

Submissions from 2016

Reducing Clostriduim Difficile Infections in Acute Care Hospital Patients by Joining a Statewide Collaboration Hospital Engagement Network, Kathleen Francis

Enhancing the Discharge Process at a Community Hospital With Post Discharge Phone Calls, Edward McKillip

Increasing the Accuracy of ICD-10 Codes to Support Hospital Based Laboratory Testing Ordered by Outreach Clients, Susan M. Munnis

Reducing medication related falls: A study of medication timing, medication reconciliation and falls reduction in an acute care hospital., Kathleen M. Pratt, RN, BSN

Implementing a Standardized Risk Model for Chemotherapy Adverse Events in Older Oncology Patients in a Community Cancer Center, Michael B. Dabrow

Implement cEEG Monitoring in the ICU to Detect Sub-Clinical Seizures: A Program to Reduce Neurologic Deficit, Debbie J. Eddinger, CHQS, BSed, RVS, REEGT

Decreasing Dermal Damage from Endotracheal Tubes in the Intensive Care Unit: A Team Based Approach, Wendy Hakun

Nursing and Medical Student Attitude Regarding Substance Use Disorders Transformed through Multi-Disciplinary Clinical Rotation in Addiction Treatment Center, Mary Ann Jacobs, MS, BSN, NE-BC

Creating a Process to Trigger the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Order Set From the Stop Bang Evaluation in Total Joint Arthroplasty Patients, Robert Lowry

Reducing Re-Admissions from Home to a Community Hospital Using a Team Approach, Kathleen Rauch

Defusing the Patient Safety Timebomb in Radiology, Christopher G. Roth

Five Hundred Sets of Eyes: Improving Patient Safety Incident Reporting by Resident Physicians, Michael Kantrowitz, DO

Developing an Effective Care Coordination Model that Can Be Utilized for Multiple Patient Populations across a Large Provider Network., Megan Musick

Submissions from 2015

Improving Patient Safety through Electronic Health Records Interoperability-Developing a National Standard for Drug Allergy/Intolerance Classes, Jami Earnest, PharmD, BCPP

Reducing Medication Errors by Improving an Electronic Medical Record's Automatic Stop Medication Order Process, Helen M. Kuroki

Reducing the Duration of Mechanical Ventilation in Postoperative Cardiac Surgery Patients Using a Team Based Approach, Brian Glynn, BS, RRT

Improving Emergency Department Throughput: Streamlining the Admission Process and Reducing Triage-to-Provider Time In a Small Community Hospital, Irving Huber, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, MACP

Improving Initial Emergency Department Antibiotic Regimen Appropriateness for Patients Admitted to the Hospital with Pneumonia Using an Electronic Clinical Decision Support Tool, Paul Sierzenski, MD, RDMS

Submissions from 2014

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Protocol-Driven Weaning from Mechanical Ventilation: Improving Utilization by the ICU Team, Ziad Ghamra

Increasing Pneumococcal Immunization Rate in the Primary Care Setting: A Team Centered Approach, Martin Klein, MD

Addressing the Problem of Mislabeled and Unlabeled Clinical Laboratory Specimens at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Margaret (Peg) Bulley

Improving the Rate of Colposcopy in an Urban Population of Patients with Known Abnormal Pap Smears, Joseph M. Montella, MD

Submissions from 2013

Elimination of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections on General Medical Surgical, Kiera Champlin-Kuhn

Reducing 30-day “All Cause” Readmission in a Medical Unit, Surendra P. Khera, MD

Chasing Zero: Reducing Breast Milk Feeding Errors in a Tertiary NICU, Jonathan R. Swanson, MD

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The use of interpreters to improve the quality and safety of healthcare through better communication in obstetrical patients: Effect on primary cesarean delivery rate, Stephen A. Pearlman, MD

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Improving the Ultrasound and Clinical Diagnosis of Macrosomia to Reduce the Primary Cesaerean Delivery Rate, Norman Back, MD, FACOG

Submissions from 2012

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The Use of Interpreters to Improve the Quality and Safety of Healthcare Through Better Communication in Obstetric Patients: Effect on Primary Cesarean Delivery Rate, Stephen A. Pearlman, MD

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Stubborn, Persistent, Dangerous C.difficile Infections. Is Improvement Possible?, Sara Townsend

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Using a Health Information Exchange to Improve Medication Reconciliation, Sandra B. Selzer