Plenary – The Future of Diagnostic Safety and Quality: The Funder’s Perspective

Craig A. Umscheid, M.D., M.S., is a hospitalist 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.  He practices clinically at Georgetown University Hospital, where he is an Adjunct Professor.  Prior to joining AHRQ, Dr. Umscheid was an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, where he served as the Chief Quality and Innovation Officer. He began his career at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an Associate Professor, Vice Chair of Quality and Safety for the Department of Medicine, and was a co-founder and Director of Penn Medicine’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. This work has been supported by AHRQ, PCORI, CDC and NIH, and has been described in over 125 peer-reviewed publications and cited over 10,000 times.

Margie Shofer, the Director of the General Patient Safety Program within the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), manages the Agency’s activities related to general patient safety issues including funding of grants and contracts, and development and dissemination of evidence-based patient safety tools and resources. She has a particular interest in engaging patients and families to improve patient safety and oversaw the work to develop three different AHRQ resources to engage patients and families in their care in ways that improve patient safety.  More recently she has led the Agency's work to improve diagnostic safety and quality. Before working in CQuIPS she worked in AHRQ's Office of Communication where she oversaw several different AHRQ learning networks, including the Medicaid Medical Directors Learning Network and the High Reliability Organizations Learning Network. Prior to working at AHRQ, Ms. Shofer was a senior policy analyst with the American Association of Health Plans, assistant staff to the Health Committee at the National Conference of State Legislatures, and committee staff for the House Environmental Matters Committee of the Maryland General Assembly.  Ms. Shofer began her health care career working as an RN at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.   She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and from Boston University’s MBA program where she concentrated in health care management.

Rani E. Snyder, MPA, is Vice President, Program at The John A. Hartford Foundation. Ms. Snyder has over 25 years of experience working with preeminent health care institutions across the nation improving the care of older adults, identifying and guiding health care programs that have set the standard for medical best practices, increasing medical education opportunities, and maximizing resources to improve health care broadly. She brings that experience to The John A. Hartford Foundation where she coordinates initiatives that foster collaboration among academic institutions, hospitals and health care providers to build Age-Friendly Health Systems, support family caregivers, and improve serious illness and end-of-life care. She is a board member and past board chair for Grantmakers in Aging, a membership organization comprised of philanthropies with a common dedication to improving the experience of aging, a board member for the American Society on Aging, a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and previously served as a Volunteer Long-Term Care Ombudsman for the State of Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.