American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) Announces New Anesthesia Quality Institute Executive

Chicago - The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today announced the selection of DeLaine Schmitz as executive of its affiliated organization, the Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI). Most recently, Schmitz served as director of quality for The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

“It is both an exciting and challenging time in the health care environment,” said ASA President J. P. Abenstein, M.S.E.E., M.D. “A major shift in that environment is an increasing focus on quality of care. Schmitz’s critical experience in the quality arena will ensure that ASA and AQI continue to meet the needs of our patients and members with this increasing emphasis on quality.”

“AQI's vision is ‘to be the primary source of information for quality improvement in the clinical practice of anesthesiology,’” said AQI Board of Directors Chair Roger Moore, M. D. “Schmitz’s leadership and wealth of experience will enable us to aggressively tackle the key challenges and opportunities facing AQI and meet ASA members’ future needs as the health care environment demands a greater reliance on quality measures.”

AQI was established by ASA in 2008 to enable practice-based quality management through education and quality data feedback. Through education and quality data feedback, AQI helps to improve quality of care for patients, lower anesthesia mortality and reduce anesthesia incidents. Since late spring, ASA has been working to ensure that AQI is ready for its next organizational lifecycle phase and expansive growth. 

As AQI executive, Schmitz will develop a plan to achieve the defined strategic direction and identify needed resources to meet AQI’s future needs. She will work to ensure that AQI is focused on registry operations which include reporting Physician Quality Reporting System data (PQRS) through ASAQCDR (Qualified Clinical Data Registry), supporting practice-based quality improvement, facilitating research through the use of large data, and improving patient safety.

Schmitz has nine years of experience as director of quality for both STS and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). She directed the development, marketing and day-to-day operations of the Adult Cardiac, General Thoracic and Congenital Heart Surgery registries at STS. At ASPS, Schmitz directed the ASPS clinical outcomes database ensuring that the appropriate vendor and technical architecture were in place to meet ASPS’ goals and future needs. She holds a Master of Science Health Law from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, in Ft. Lauderdale-Davie, Fla. Schmitz’s first day at ASA will be Sept. 28, 2015. In this position, Schmitz will report to ASA Chief Executive Officer Paul Pomerantz.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS®
Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 52,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care every patient deserves. 
 
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2015 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter and use the hashtag #ANES2015.

# # #