Harkness Project Title: A Framework for Engaging Physicians in Quality and Safety
Mentors: Thomas H. Lee, M.D., CEO, Partners Community Health Care
Thomas D. Sequist, M.D.. Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Jonny Taitz, M.B.Ch.B., FRACP, FCP (SA), a 2010-11 Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is assistant director of clinical operations and staff specialist pediatrician at Sydney Children's Hospital. He is also conjoint lecturer at the University of New South Wales, and serves as NSW Clinical Lead in Incident Management on the Clinical Excellence Commission. Past positions include a secondment as medical advisor, quality and safety branch, for the NSW Department of Health, and head of pediatrics at Royal North Shore Hospital. Taitz received the Medical Media Award for outstanding community service in 2009 and was nominated for the Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award in 1997 for establishing the first HIV/AIDS clinic in East London, South Africa. Taitz received his M.B.Ch.B. from the University of Cape Town, where he received the Cuthbert Chricton Prize in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Project: Taitz’s project examined ten high-performing health care organizations to determine how they successfully engage clinicians to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes, and how they measure this engagement. A literature review and expert informant interviews were undertaken to identify high-performing organizations. This was followed by week-long site visits to the ten organizations (Partners Community Healthcare, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston, Geisinger Health System, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Virginia Mason Medical Center), where Taitz conducted semi-structured interviews with senior leaders.
Career Activity since Fellowship
- Consultant Paediatrician, Director of Medical Services, Royal North Shore Hospital
Current Position: (updated 7/2017)
- Director Pediatric Patient Safety, Clinical Excellence Commission
Email: [email protected]
Harkness-Related Publications
Taitz JM, Lee TH, Sequist TD. “A framework for engaging physicians in quality and safety.” BMJ Quality and Safety 2011.