Rafael Campo, M.D., professor of clinical medicine and currently director of employee health and infection control, has been named Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer for the University of Miami Health System (UHealth) at the Miller School. In his new position, Campo will head up the newly created UHealth Patient Safety and Quality Office, which is designed to standardize safety and quality initiatives across the health system.

"UHealth is a large organization with a current patchwork of excellent safety and quality initiatives led by excellent individual chief patient safety officers, but as we continue to grow, it is imperative to bring all our safety efforts together to achieve even better operational results and improved patient outcomes," said David Lubarsky, M.D., M.B.A., Emanuel M. Papper Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology and senior associate dean for quality, safety and risk prevention. "In his new position, Dr. Campo will be directing this overarching effort and move us more quickly to our goal of becoming the safest health care system in the nation."

As infection control officer at University of Miami Hospital, Dr. Campo has already helped make the hospital a national standout in terms of low infection rates. His evidence-based medicine approach to optimizing the care patients receive will now guide the health system's entire safety and quality effort.

"Initially the main task of this new office will be to bring together and consolidate all the separate safety and quality efforts that have been going on across the health system and then build on what is already in place and make them even stronger and better," said Dr. Campo. "Our eventual goal is to be a leader as a health care system in Florida, the southeast United States, and eventually the nation when it comes to patient safety."

The Miller School has a long tradition of leadership in patient safety initiatives. Together with the Jackson Health System, the two institutions formed the Center for Patient Safety, an innovative facility that employs simulation-based education and research as part of a comprehensive approach to preventing errors and improving patient safety.

"I am pleased that Dr. Campo has accepted the position as chief patient safety and quality officer for UHealth," said David Birnbach, M.D., M.P.H., professor of anesthesiology and epidemiology and public health and director of the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety. "I look forward to working closely with Dr. Campo as he brings our center's educational initiatives and research findings into the clinical setting. Working together, along with the faculty and staff of UHealth, we will make our institution as safe as possible for all of our patients."