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St. Joe's West Chief Puts Patient Safety First

SSM St. Joseph Hospital West Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Handler has been awarded a Fellowship by the American College of Physician Executives.

Dr. Michael Handler is always looking for ways to improve. As chief medical officer, Handler works to enhance quality and patient safety. He also serves as liaison between physicians and medical staff at the hospital.

Handler was recently awarded Fellowship by the American College of Physician Executives. One of the highest levels of achievement awarded by the ACPE, Fellowship is the distinction of board certification in healthcare management. It signifies a physician executive’s expertise, experience and commitment to continuing education and professional development.

“It means that someone has had extra training as a physician executive to be involved in physician leadership,” Handler said.

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“Fellowship is among the highest honors that can be bestowed on a physician. It shows that Dr. Handler has attained regional and national stature while also demonstrating a mastery of clinical medicine and outstanding leadership skills,” said Dr. Clair Callan, president of ACPE’s Board of Directors.

Handler is only the second physician in SSM Health Care and the seventh physician in Missouri to receive the ACPE honor.

Handler has been practicing medicine since 1989, first as an obstetrician in private practice then as a physician executive with SSM Health Care–St. Louis since 2000. He still covers as a house obstetrician at St. Joseph West, a 127-bed acute care hospital in Lake Saint Louis. 

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Handler said obstetrics was rewarding, but so is keeping patients safe.  “In this role, your wins are that zero bad events happen in a hospital—making sure that zero medical errors occur.” he said.  “This work is a continual progression.  I am always asking how we can improve.  Then once we hit zero, it’s about maintaining that. It always has to be zero or 100.  We don’t let them have a party for one.”

During his tenure with SSM, Handler has championed patient safety and quality within St. Joseph Hospital West and SSM Health Care–St. Louis.

Handler chairs the No Harm Team at St. Joseph Hospital West and the Hospital Advisory Board of the Missouri Center for Patient Safety. “It’s about keeping patients safe,” he said. “I work on process improvements to make sure we have no medical errors.”

No Harm is a multi-disciplinary team composed of physicians, radiologists, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, technicians and other caregivers across St. Joseph Hospital West.

Created by Handler, No Harm has been touted as a “Best Practice” system throughout the SSM network, meaning it has been shared and replicated. The system has hospitals in Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma and Missouri.

The Electronic Health Record system is just one of the programs the No Harm Team has streamlined. The system now flags conflicting medications so healthcare workers are always alerted of possible harm that could come to patients as a result of medication or procedures.  “It can be as simple as things that people have forgotten,” Handler said. “It’s about reinforcement, not necessarily about changing a process.”

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