Yisrael Mordecai Safeek
Yisrael Mordecai Safeek MD, MBA, CPE (Hebrew: Safeek, ספק Yisra'el,סִשְׂרָאֵל) (born July 1962) is an American Physician Executive. He has been a certified health care system surveyor with The Joint Commission since 2005, and is trained under the Accreditation Manuals for Hospitals and Office Based Surgeries. He is the first and currently the only Kentucky physician appointed to the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Safeek may be the only US physician actively involved with The Joint Commission and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He was the Chief Quality Officer at Pikeville Medical Center and Clinics, the primary teaching facility for Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. Before that, he served as Medical Director for 14 years with distinction on multiple Medical Advisory Panels and Executive Committees of various health care organizations.
Education
Postgraduate: 2007 Master of Business Administration ''Summa Cum Laude'' University of Tennessee Physician Executive MBA program, 1994 Anesthesiology residency Vanderbilt University. Graduate: 1990 Doctor of Medicine East Tennessee State University School of Medicine. Undergraduate: Bachelor of Science ''Summa Cum Laude'' with double major in Biology and Chemistry Austin Peay State University. Phi Kappa Phi.
Recognition
In 2008, Safeek was recognized by The Joint Commission as a national policymaker for his work in formulating new national healthcare administration, leadership, and patient safety standards. He was recognized as 2007 Outstanding Physician Leader of the Year by diverse physician executives.He is a diplomate of the Certifying Commission in Medical Management from the American College of Physician Executives as well as the American Board of Medical Specialties in Anesthesiology and the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Executive Leadership
He is a Certified Physician Executive of the American College of Physician Executives and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a Six Sigma champion and has consulted on Lean Six Sigma; Change Acceleration Process; Value Stream Mapping; PDSA; and Toyota Production System. Through his work with The Joint Commission, he has mentored dozens of hospital leaders on sentinel event, root cause analysis, and failure mode and effects analysis to decrease medical error. Dr. Safeek has advised and coached medical staffs on Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) and Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE)in over 30 states. More recently, his focus has shifted on specific health care quality metrics such as the Core Measures, National Patient Safety Goals, and IHI bundles to decrease preventable deaths in hospitals. He holds memberships in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ)
Academic Affiliation
Advisory Board member of the University of Tennessee, Physician Executive MBA program on curriculum, tuition costs, and trends in the business of medicine. Guest lecturer on medical leadership, credentialing, and accreditation.
Peer Reviewed Publications
- [http://net.acpe.org/MembersOnly/pejournal/2008/JulyAugust/Safeek.pdf]The Expanding Roles of the Chief Medical Officer, Physician Executive, July-August 2008
- No Outcomes, No Incomes
Personal
Safeek is a practicing Jew who belongs to the Baladi and stringently follows the legal rulings of the Rambam (Moses Maimonides) as codified in his work the Mishneh Torah. He also embraces the teachings of Rabbi Yitzhak Lurya, the Jewish sage of Safed and so accepts the Zohar theologically.