The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Emergency Medicine Healthcare Quality Assurance and Improvement Fellowship is a one-year advanced training program designed to develop future leaders in healthcare quality, patient safety, and systems improvement. Fellows gain comprehensive experience in quality assurance (QA), quality improvement (QI), clinical operations, patient safety, and implementation science while working within a mature, data-driven quality infrastructure at a major academic medical center.
The Emergency Department QA program systematically reviews key clinical outcomes, including:
Emergency Department return visits within 72 hours
Floor-to-ICU transfers within 24 hours of hospital admission
Deaths occurring within 24 hours of hospital admission
Cases identified through patient complaints or provider concerns
Apart from patient complaints and individually referred cases, all reviews are identified automatically through an electronic QA dashboard that interfaces with the hospital's electronic health information system. This standardized surveillance process ensures comprehensive, objective identification of cases for review.
Oversight is provided by the multidisciplinary Emergency Department Quality Assurance Committee, which is fully integrated into BIDMC's hospital-wide quality and patient safety infrastructure. Working collaboratively with physicians, nurses, quality specialists, and hospital leadership, the committee identifies opportunities for improvement, develops corrective action plans, and implements system-wide operational changes to improve patient care.
Each case undergoes structured peer review using an eight-point assessment framework evaluating multiple domains of emergency care, including clinical decision-making, adverse events, documentation quality, procedural competency, resource utilization, care coordination, and overall quality of care. Reviewers also provide narrative feedback to identify contributing factors and opportunities for system improvement.
Throughout the fellowship, fellows become active members of the QA review process. They participate in multidisciplinary committee meetings, conduct independent case reviews, evaluate patient complaints, perform root cause analyses, and contribute to the design and implementation of quality improvement initiatives. Fellows also participate in innovative research focused on identifying sources of medical error, developing predictive markers for adverse events, and creating novel interventions to improve patient safety.
By the completion of the fellowship, graduates will have developed expertise in:
Clinical quality assurance and structured peer review
Root cause analysis and adverse event investigation
Quality improvement methodology and implementation science
Clinical pathway development and decision-support systems
Healthcare quality metrics and performance measurement
Design and evaluation of rule-based and technology-enabled quality systems
Leadership, organizational change management, and effective communication of quality initiatives
Graduates leave the program prepared to lead quality and patient safety programs within academic medical centers, community hospitals, and healthcare systems while advancing innovation through research, education, and systems redesign.
Fellowship Director & Contact
Shamai Grossman, MD, MS
sgrossma@bidmc.harvard.edu
One Deaconess Road
Rosenberg Building, 2nd floor
Boston, MA 02215
Curriculum Highlights:
The fellowship combines individualized mentorship, practical leadership experience, and innovative scholarship to provide comprehensive training in healthcare quality and patient safety.
Advanced training in health information technology and artificial intelligence, with opportunities to evaluate and develop AI-driven approaches to quality measurement, patient safety surveillance, and clinical decision support.
Direct mentorship from national leaders in healthcare quality and innovation, including individualized weekly teaching sessions focused on quality improvement methodology, implementation science, patient safety, leadership, and systems redesign.
Multidisciplinary collaboration with primary care leadership, including monthly meetings to improve transitions of care, optimize Emergency Department discharge processes, and strengthen outpatient follow-up and care coordination.
Hands-on participation in Emergency Department quality, management, and operational leadership meetings, where fellows gain practical experience implementing and evaluating quality initiatives across a complex healthcare system.
Active engagement in innovative research, with opportunities to develop, study, and publish novel approaches to healthcare quality improvement, patient safety, clinical decision support, and systems engineering.
Participation in regional and national quality improvement conferences, including the Emergency Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP) and other educational forums focused on developing future leaders in emergency medicine quality, patient safety, and healthcare innovation.
The curriculum is intentionally designed to prepare graduates to become national leaders in quality improvement, patient safety, healthcare innovation, and academic emergency medicine.
How To Apply
Application Requirements
Graduate from LCME-accredited medical institution
Completion of an emergency medicine residency in a 3- or 4-year program
Must be in good standing in current training
Board certified or board eligible in emergency medicine
Strong interest in ED administration or academic medicine
Application Timeline
July – August: Submission of cover letter, CV, and three letters of recommendation (one must be from program director)
October: Interviews
November 30: Notification of acceptance
Submission of Application Materials
Please send all inquiries and applications to:
Shamai Grossman, MD, MS
One Deaconess Road
Rosenberg Building, 2nd floor
Boston, MA 02215
Tel: 617-754-2354
Fellowship Faculty
Shamai Grossman, MD, MS
Fellowship Director; Vice Chair for Emergency Medicine Health Care Quality, BIDMC; Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Burstein, MD
Associate Director of Quality, Department of Emergency Medicine, BIDMC; State EMS Director, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Carlo Rosen, MD
Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, BIDMC; Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Edlow, MD
Professor of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
David Chiu, MD, MPH
Vice President of Network Operations, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians; Executive Vice Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, BIDMC; Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, BIDMC
