UT System executive vice chancellor shares his obsession with quality care
SAN ANTONIO (July 8, 2013) — On the eve of his retirement as executive vice chancellor for health affairs for The University of Texas System, Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., will address fellow educators and health career providers who have dedicated their lives to his shared passion of providing quality health care.
Dr. Shine, who is a champion of many UT-led enhancements in health care education and research, will be retiring as executive vice chancellor later this year after a successor is hired. In his current position, he is responsible for the six UT System health institutions, including the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, and their aggregate operating budget of almost $8.4 billion. He will continue with the UT System as special advisor to the chancellor.
At 8:15 a.m. Friday, July 12, Dr. Shine will present “Lessons Learned from a Lifetime of Quality Improvement” to those attending the 2013 Summer Institutes on Evidence-Based Quality Improvement, which is hosted by the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice (ACE) in the School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
The institute runs from Tuesday, July 9, through Saturday, July 13, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Antonio. The 12th annual conference provides clinicians, educators and researchers the opportunity to share their evidence-based practice successes. The institute is aimed at helping health care providers improve quality and safety in health care by translating evidence into practice.
Dr. Shine, who spoke at the first institute, joined the UT System in 2003. During his tenure, the Office of Health Affairs has completed six presidential searches, implemented a strategy on the Future of Public Health, launched the nationally recognized Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Program, created the Transformation in Medical Education (TIME) program, and established the first Systemwide Academy of Health Professions Educators in the country.
Dr. Shine was honored with the 2011 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from the National Quality Forum and Joint Commission. He also received the Founders Award of the American College of Healthcare Quality. He was recognized for leading numerous initiatives to improve quality and safety in health care.
A cardiologist and physiologist, Dr. Shine graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1961. He trained at Harvard’s acclaimed teaching hospital, Massachusetts General, where he became chief resident in medicine in 1968. In 1969, he joined the faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles, ultimately becoming dean of the UCLA School of Medicine in 1986.
In 1992, Dr. Shine was named president of the Institute of Medicine, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that helps influence national health care policy. During his 10 years as director, the Institute of Medicine took on several crucially important issues such as food safety, tobacco use and end-of-life care and became one of the most important forces to improve health in the nation.
Highlights of the 2013 Summer Institutes on Quality Improvement:
- Improvement Science Summit: A Research Methods Conference is set for July 9-10. This year’s theme is “Transformation through Research.”
The summit is the official conference of the Improvement Science Research Network (ISRN). Philosophically aligned with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award program, the goals of the ISRN are to accelerate improvement by conducting interprofessional landmark multi-site studies and to enhance translation of research findings in health care.
- Specialty Workshops are scheduled July 10 and include the 2013 Educators’ EBP Workshop emphasizing patient safety and quality improvement trends that should influence preparation of students for today’s health care systems. The TeamSTEPPS Fundamentals Workshop provides an introduction of the standardized federal program for health care team training, Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety, which optimizes team performance, resolving the communication breakdowns that are major contributors to major health crises. Also, the Essential Elements Workshop: An Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice is recommended for those new to the institute, which is organized around the ACE Star Model of Knowledge Transformation introduced during this workshop.
- Summer Institute on Evidence-Based Practice is July 11-13 with a theme of “From Knowing to Doing.” This institute, whose inception 12 years ago has grown in a multi-conference annual program, builds capacity for health care providers to actively shape the future of quality and safety in health care through translating evidence into practice.
- Kathleen R. Stevens, Ed.D., RN, ANEF, FAAN, will speak at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, July 11, on “From Knowing to Doing.” She is a professor and director of the ISRN and the ACE at the Health Science Center.
- KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Charles Duke, Jr., Ph.D.s (Hon.), astronaut and president of Charlie Duke Enterprises and co-author of “Moonwalker,” will discuss “Innovating on the Edge of Knowledge: A Walk on the Moon” at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, July 11.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 28,000 graduates. The $736 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.