In this three-part post, we introduce our readers to the keynote speakers for this year’s ASTRO Annual Meeting, “The Healing Art and Science of Radiation Oncology.”
On Monday, September 25, Richard Zane, MD, chief innovation officer for the University of Colorado Health System, will discuss how technology has begun to restructure frontline patient-doctor relationships. He will also cover what we might expect in the future as our environment shifts to more of a population health-based framework.
In addition to his role as chief innovation officer, Dr. Zane is the George B. Boedecker Jr., and Boedecker Foundation professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; professor of health administration at the University of Colorado Business School; and executive director, Emergency Services, University of Colorado Health.
Dr. Zane has extensive experience in designing and implementing systems of quality, emergency care, access and clinical integration and has developed an international reputation for being able to apply modern industrial engineering and informatics practices to health care and science. Dr. Zane recently led a complete care redesign of the new emergency department at the University of Colorado Hospital. This new model of care has revolutionized emergency care delivery and is being recognized nationally and internationally—it’s being emulated across the United States, as well as Asia.
An expert on systems of emergency preparedness and mass casualty care, Dr. Zane has been active nationally and internationally on issues related to emergency preparedness, surge and weapons of mass destruction. He recently authored the World Health Organization Hospital Emergency Response Checklist. The surge capacity and mass casualty planning and response tools Dr. Zane designed were successfully deployed in response to Hurricane Katrina and the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, as well as the Boston Marathon bombing. He has also worked with and received funding from the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Healthcare Resources Services Administration and the World Health Organization for projects on hospital and system emergency preparedness.
Prior to coming to Colorado, Dr. Zane served as vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and chair of the Medical Services Executive Committee, medical director for emergency preparedness and biodefense for Partners Healthcare and medical director for MDConnect, a systemwide integration, referral, access and transfer program.
Dr. Zane received specialty training in emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he stayed on as faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1998.
Registration for the ASTRO Annual Meeting is now open. Register now or view the Online Conference Planner.
What questions would you ask of Dr. Zane at the ASTRO Annual Meeting? Let us know in the comments.