Clinical Collaboration and Teamwork
The Clinical Collaboration and Teamwork award is presented to the physician, nurse and/or team who engages colleagues in shared decision-making, fostering cooperation and open communication.
Alexander Wu, M.D., and the 4P Team
Hospitalist
Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center
Alexander Wu and his staff’s remarkable teamwork have led to excellent outcomes for patients on the medical center’s 4P floor. Each team member shares a commitment to rounds and carefully attends to their role in the patient care process. Thanks to this dedication, they pass key safety benchmarks with flying colors and continue to see their patient satisfaction scores rise. Also, the team spearheaded development of a mobility program that has been adopted by the rest of the medical center. According to one colleague, “The team consistently demonstrates the core values of integrity, teamwork and commitment to patient care.”
Patrick Mularoni, M.D.
Medical Director, Ambulatory Operations
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
(Team members: Tony Kriseman, M.D., Rachel Dawkins, M.D., Dipti Amin, M.D., Susan Byrd, M.B.A., Shelley Baranowski, M.S., Jasmin Matamoros, M.B.A., Sherry Belcher, M.S.N., Aruna Jagdeo, M.B.A., Matthew Werling, Pharm.D., AJ Caberto, Fiorella Gonzales, M.P.H., Nuredin Joehar, M.B.A., Luis Ahumada, Ph.D., M.S.C.S., Mary Brothers, M.S.N., Kentlee Battick, M.S.N., Elizabeth Halterman, M.S.N., Kim Kuperman, M.S.N., Cristina Suarez, M.S.N., Zeni Capwell, Ellen Arky)
The influenza immunization dashboard team was formed in August 2022 to develop best practices for screening of patients’ flu vaccination status and encouraging vaccine uptake. The interdisciplinary team includes physicians, ambulatory leaders, advanced practice providers, clinical nurse leaders, pharmacists, and specialists in patient safety, quality, clinical informatics and predictive analytics.
Before this initiative, measuring flu vaccine compliance was limited to the inpatient population and general pediatric clinic. A high proportion of patients who receive care at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and its regional outpatient centers have complex or chronic health conditions that place them at higher risk for serious complications from influenza, making vaccination discussions especially important. The team developed an innovative ambulatory influenza dashboard to track patient populations by specialty, and then expanded the dashboard to include all patient populations for the 2023–2024 flu season. Metrics focused on improving screening through efficient use of the electronic medical record, monitoring vaccine supplies, clarifying staff roles in discussing flu immunization with patients and parents, and documentation.
A multimedia campaign encouraged flu vaccination, and the message was amplified in conversations with patients’ families. During a three-year period, the overall influenza vaccination screening rate improved from 47% to 70%, and the population-specific rate reached 94% for patients receiving active chemotherapy. The ambulatory dashboard’s real-time processes and metrics enabled the team to trend for continuous performance improvement.
Thomas Magnuson, M.D., and the 6 Surgical Unit Team
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Every Friday, the 6 Surgical Unit team meets with the multidisciplinary team to discuss geriatric cases and to prepare for their needs before they are admitted to the hospital for surgery. This information is disseminated to the staff to give patients who are older the best experience during their hospitalization and to improve their outcomes after surgery.
Thomas Magnuson has been an instrumental resource to 6 Surgical Unit and its multidisciplinary team. He meets with unit leadership monthly, rounds on units and talks to frontline staff members, building a strong rapport and relationship with the team.
Dr. Magnuson is also the conduit for implementing evidence-based practices by providing the resources needed for projects and initiatives that streamline patient care, safety and staff engagement. As a result, the 6 Surgical Unit continues to meet and to sustain nursing-sensitive indicators, which help prevent secondary comorbidity and decrease the length of stay.
Andrea Kwong, M.D., Joyce Douglas and the Howard County Gyn/Ob Integration Team
Andrea Kwong, M.D.
Office Medical Director
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
Joyce Douglas
Practice Administrator
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
Howard County Gyn/Ob Integration Team
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
Under the leadership of Andrea Kwong and Joyce Douglas, the Signature OB/GYN and Johns Hopkins Community Physicians (JHCP) Gyn/Ob practices in Howard County were successfully integrated to form a new group in the summer of 2023: Johns Hopkins Medicine Gynecology and Obstetrics. Signature OB/GYN had been part of the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) since 2006, and JHCP began expanding its Gyn/Ob service in Howard County at about the same time. Although they were in the same health system and located less than one mile apart, these two practices had no cross coverage or systems in place to share resources.
Formation of the new practice was a testament to teamwork, and it required collaboration across JHHS. The integration team introduced JHCP clinical and administrative workflows and operations to the former Signature OB/GYN practice, allowing more effective monitoring of safety, quality and patient satisfaction. The integration has supported a strategic goal — make Johns Hopkins Medicine easy — and it has improved work-life balance for practitioners. It also gave the Gyn/Ob service the ability to imbed more Johns Hopkins University specialists into the practice, giving patients access to a wider range of expertise. Dr. Kwong and Douglas helped create a collaborative culture that let to the success of the integration.
Hugh Calkins, M.D., and the Electrophysiology Clinical Care Team
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Electrophysiology (EP) Program was established more than 40 years ago. Comprehensive care for patients with all types of cardiac arrhythmia is delivered by a large, highly skilled collaborative team of physicians, physician assistants, nurses and technologists. Together, these clinicians and practitioners perform more than 3,000 procedures and care for more than 10,000 patients annually in the outpatient setting. A unique component of this care team is the EP nurse case managers, who handle preparation and scheduling of patients for complex cases, including catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and pacemaker/implantable cardioverter defibrillator lead extraction. These cases require coordination with anesthesia and imaging (for same-day cardiac CT or MRI scans), and sometimes with CT surgery or plastic surgery. These patients also require extensive preparation — case managers help set their expectations, help them understand the treatment timeline and manage medication (some medications need to be stopped before a procedure), and help schedule appointments. This guidance sets the entire team up for success, helps avoid medication errors and minimizes last-minute procedure cancellations.
The case manager team schedules and prepares 10–15 patients per day. Once scheduling is completed, the electrophysiology nurses, technologists and physician assistants work collaboratively with the electrophysiology and anesthesia faculty to deliver the highest quality care. Patients often comment that all of the team members are comforting, kind and skillful. This level of care starts with the first call patients receive from the case managers and continues throughout all steps in their journey to full recovery.
“As a physician who has worked with this service for nearly 20 years, I have been astounded at the quality of service they provide,” says Joseph Marine, M.D., a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist. “They are models of collaboration and teamwork, both with each other, with the EP physicians and labs staff, the imaging services, and the Anesthesia and CT surgery services.”
2023 Sibley Memorial Hospital Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team
- Stephen Broderick, M.D., M.P.H.S., thoracic surgeon and associate director, Johns Hopkins cardiothoracic residency program, and associate professor of surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Aditya Halthore, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Andrew Lerner, M.D., director of interventional pulmonology
- Benjamin Levy, M.D., thoracic medical oncologist and clinical director of medical oncology, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital, and associate professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Susan Scott, M.D., thoracic medical oncologist, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital
- Jean Wright, M.D., director of the breast cancer program, and associate professor, Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Meredith Haase, thoracic surgery nurse practitioner
- Claire Hunn, thoracic surgery nurse practitioner
- James Thomas, director of pulmonary services
- Mahlet Atnafu, senior research program supervisor
- Cynthia Jeong, clinical coordinator, medical oncology clinic
- Judith Lawrence, research nurse
The Johns Hopkins lung cancer program at Sibley Memorial Hospital is a large, closely coordinated, multiple-disciplinary team that supports thousands of patients with lung cancer at all phases of care. The team includes providers from interventional pulmonology, thoracic surgery, thoracic oncology and radiation oncology. They work as a synergistic team in the care of patients with lung cancer of all stages, using advanced diagnostic technologies and treatments that have resulted in significantly improved outcomes for their patients. The team works closely with the neighboring community of physicians and has a strong dedication to the National Capital Region, including in research and teaching.
Diane Colgan, M.D., and the Sterile Processing Department
Assistant Vice President of Medical Affairs
Suburban Hospital
Teamwork is one of the main values that guide the Suburban Hospital sterile processing department (SPD) to excellence. Led by “the ultimate champion,” Diane Colgan, the group works together to process and maintain surgical sets using the highest standards of sterilization. The SPD puts patient safety first, using advanced technology to monitor sterilization in real time and immediate evaluation of safety alerts to enhance quality standards. When faced with multiple workflow changes resulting from systemwide harmonization efforts, colleagues say the team “rose to the occasion, keeping the department organized and supporting” one another.
