Newswise — WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2014) — The George Washington University (GW) Office for Clinical Practice Innovation (OCPI) launched a podcast series to generate conversation about more efficient, cost-effective health care delivery. The series serves as a platform for industry leaders to discuss their own innovations, sparking ideas and strategies for listeners to consider implementing in their own organizations.

The office, housed within the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), is dedicated to the dissemination and implementation of novel methods to organize and deliver medical care. This podcast series is the latest effort by OCPI to engage the health care community in productive conversation about improving the quality and value of health care.

“Our new podcast series is another way to facilitate and develop collaboration among interdisciplinary health care teams and organizations, which is often the gateway to innovation,” said Jesse Pines, M.D., M.B.A., director of OCPI, professor of emergency medicine at SMHS, and professor of health policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW. “We hope by highlighting recent innovations, ideas will continue to form and develop on how to give better care to the patients we serve.”

With only five episodes so far, Pines has interviewed renowned experts such as Steven Larson, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Rebecca Smith-Bindman, M.D., professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, Peter Provonost, M.D., Ph.D., FCCM, senior vice president for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Rushika Fernandopulle, M.D., founding director of Iora Health, and more.

In their interviews, Provonost discussed his innovative checklist protocol to reduce central line catheter infections, saving 1,500 lives and $100 million annually, and Fernandopulle spoke about his experience developing a unique culture to better treat chronically-ill patients not adhering to treatment plans. The brief, conversational interviews focus on what the guests are doing to change the delivery of health care. Upcoming episodes include interviews with:

- Elizabeth Cobbs, M.D., professor of medicine at SMHS, who will be discussing the incorporation of narrative advanced care plan discussion notes into electronic health records and how that enables doctors to deliver better care for terminally ill patients.

- Scott F Leibowitz, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who will be talking about the integration of LGBT issues into medical school curriculums.

To subscribe to the OCPI podcast series, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/clinical-practice-innovations/id924161754?mt=2. For more information about OCPI, visit smhs.gwu.edu/clinicalinnovation/.

Media: For more information about the new OCPI podcast series or to interview Dr. Pines, please contact Lisa Anderson at [email protected] or 202-994-3121.

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About the GW School of Medicine and Health SciencesFounded in 1824, the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was the first medical school in the nation’s capital and is the 11th oldest in the country. Working together in our nation’s capital, with integrity and resolve, the GW SMHS is committed to improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities.www.smhs.gwu.edu.