Building the Bridge: Maintaining Quality in the Face of Change, the fourth University of Texas System Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Conference and Recognition Event, took place September 20-21 in San Antonio. The event brought together doctors, clinicians and students from across The University of Texas System to learn and share ideas and best practices.

The conference opened with a keynote presentation from Dr. David Wennberg, CEO of Northern New England Accountable Care Collaborative, titled “Making Shared Decision Part of Usual Care.” Dr. Reed Tuckson, Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs for UnitedHealth Group, provided an insurer's perspective during a lunch presentation. Dr. Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine, gave the Friday morning keynote address titled “Professionalism and Accountability: The Vital Link to Quality of Care.”

Nearly 100 abstracts were submitted for poster rounds and oral presentation consideration and four won awards recognizing exceptional individuals and team improvement. This year’s winners are:

• 1^st place: Reducing Deep Sternal Wound Infections by Dr. Philip Greilich and Eleanor Phelps, RN from UT Southwestern Medical Center;
• 2^nd place: Improving Effectiveness, Promoting Efficiency: the EMR-Based Clinical Pathway for Pressure Ulcer Detection, Preventions, and Treatment by Dr. Chanhaeng Rhee and Eleanor Phelps, RN from UT Southwestern Medical Center;
• 3^rd place: Improving Core Measures in an Academic Institution by Dr. Lindsay Sonstein from UT Medical Branch at Galveston; and
• 1^st place Sustainability: Extension of the daily Spontaneous Breathing Trial (SBT's) Protocol into Other ICU's to Decrease the Length of Stay on the Ventilator by Dr. Brandy McKelvy from UT Health Science Center at Houston.