The Doctors Company Foundation Names James P. Bagian, MD, as Recipient of the Vanguard Award for the Advancement of Patient Safety
Napa, California—December 14, 2009—The Doctors Company Foundation, formed by The Doctors Company to advance and protect the practice of good medicine, is pleased to award James P. Bagian, MD, the Vanguard Award for the Advancement of Patient Safety.
The award is designed to draw public and industry attention to the importance of patient safety within the medical profession and to recognize physicians who demonstrate leadership in this area. The award includes a monetary grant of $1,000.
The Doctors Company Foundation is honoring Dr. Bagian for his leadership contributions to the national patient safety movement. In 1998, he was selected to be the first director of the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He defined the mission of the NCPS as the prevention of inadvertent harm to patients through the adoption of systems-based approaches, identification of vulnerabilities, and development and application of tools and techniques to prevent future harm. He and the Center were subsequently selected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to provide training, techniques, and tools to improve patient safety to all 50 state departments of health, including their private sector partners. The patient safety program and tools that Dr. Bagian developed and implemented in the VA have now been widely adopted both in the U.S. and in over 14 countries around the world.
Dr. Bagian is a member of the Institute of Medicine and in 2002 was selected by the World Health Organization to chair its inaugural meeting on patient safety. He is a recipient of the American Medical Association’s Dr. Nathan S. Davis Award for outstanding public service in the advancement of public health; the Innovations in American Government Award for Patient Safety Innovations from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Ford Foundation and the Council of Excellence in Government; the Patient Safety Award from the Institute for Quality in Laboratory Medicine; U.S. Medicine’s Frank Brown Berry Award for the most significant contribution to health care in the United States in 2002 by a military or federal physician; the Outstanding Federal Healthcare Executive Award for his contributions to federal health care, and the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Innovations Award.
Dr. Bagian also has extensive experience in the field of aviation. As a former NASA astronaut, he flew on two Space Shuttle missions. Following the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion, he dove and supervised the capsule’s recovery from the ocean floor and subsequently led the development of the Space Shuttle Escape System that is currently in use. He also served as chief flight surgeon and medical consultant for the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Dr. Bagian received his doctorate in medicine from Thomas Jefferson University and earned his BS degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine and is on the faculties of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and University of Texas Medical Branch.
“The prevention of adverse medical events requires systems-based approaches to identify areas of vulnerability. Dr. Bagian has integrated his medical knowledge, engineering background, and experience within the safety culture of aviation to enhance patient safety in our health care system,” said David B. Troxel, MD, board chairman of The Doctors Company Foundation and medical director for The Doctors Company.
For more information on The Doctors Company Foundation, please visit www.thedoctors.com/foundation.
About The Doctors Company Foundation
The Doctors Company Foundation is committed to advancing and protecting the practice of good medicine. Founded by The Doctors Company in 2008, the Foundation focuses on supporting patient safety research, forums, and pilot programs; physician education programs; and medical liability research.
