Driving Diagnostic Excellence CMSS has embarked on two initiatives in 2021 which will drive and promote diagnostic excellence. CMSS and our specialty societies are well positioned to drive a greater focus on diagnostic excellence and share effective strategies to improve diagnostic excellence to their physician members.
NAM SCHOLARS IN DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE In early 2021, in partnership with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, CMSS launched the NAM Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence, a one-year, parttime remote experience to enhance ten carefully selected scholars’ knowledge and skills in diagnostic quality and safety and to accelerate their career development. Each scholar receives a stipend of $35,000 that can be used as salary offset, for specific research efforts related to diagnostic excellence, or to support other program-related activities. The program also provides each scholar with an additional $5,000 to cover program-related domestic travel expenses. The program received more than 50 applications representing the specialties of internal medicine, pediatrics, radiology, pathology, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, critical care, and obstetrics. Given the depth and breadth of CMSS’s membership, this new scholars program
presents an important opportunity to offer strategies to address diagnostic excellence across the full house of medicine.
We look forward to working with such an impressive cohort of extraordinary scholars, and my hope is that their work to improve diagnostic quality and safety will have profound effects not only on the way our health care system operates but also on the lives of patients.
Cornelius A. James, MD
With multiple effector arms to provide support to their members, including education through conferences and accredited CME, and scholarship through research, registries, clinical guidelines, and peer-reviewed journals, specialty societies are well positioned to drive a greater focus on diagnostic excellence and share effective strategies to improve diagnostic excellence to their physician members.
Victor J. Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine
PROMOTING DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE ACROSS THE HOUSE OF MEDICINE
In addition to the selection and provision of grants to individual societies, CMSS will serve as a coordinating center to monitor and promote cross-specialty learning, improvement, collaboration, and identification of best practices in diagnostic excellence that can be shared with the broader medical community.
In November 2021, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded CMSS a new grant to promote diagnostic excellence across the house of medicine. This two-year grant award includes $1.25 million in funding to develop, launch, and monitor a competitive grant program for up to 10 medical specialty societies to support the development
Jonathan Baghdadi, MD, PhD
Traber D. Giardina, PhD, MSW
of resources and programs focused on diagnostic excellence. Given the depth and breadth of CMSS’s membership, CMSS can be a powerful lever to engage specialty societies to develop targeted resources in diagnostic excellence, while identifying and disseminating best practices across the house of medicine.
Jessica Keim-Malpass, PhD, RN
Mei-Sing Ong, PhD
Komal Bajaj, MD, MS-HPEd
Efrén J. Flores, MD
Jorge Rodriguez, MD
Linda Geng, MD, PhD
Lekshmi Santhosh, MD, MAEd
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