ProfessorMedicine ProfessorBioethics and Humanities Associate Chair, Department of Medicine, Patient Care Quality, Safety and ValueDirector, UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and SafetyRelated Links: Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and SafetyThe Collaborative on Accountability and ImprovementFaculty Information Biography Education & Training: MDHarvard UniversityCambridge, MA1990 Internship and Residency in Internal MedicineBarnes Hospital, Washington UniversitySt. Louis, MO1990–1993 Honors: Phi Beta Kappa1986 Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program1993–1995 Milton W. Hamolsky Junior Faculty Award1996 SGIM Initial Mentorship Award2000 Samuel L. Goldstein Leadership Award in Medical Student Education2001 David E. Rogers Junior Faculty Education Award2002 Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars in Bioethics Award2003 Marion E. Smith Junior Faculty Research Award2003 SGIM Best Published Research Paper of the Year2004 Fellow, American College of Physicians2004 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research2008 SGIM Physician-Investigator of the Year Award2008 President, Society of General Internal Medicine Northwest Region2009 Elected to 3-Year Term on Council, Society of General Internal Medicine2010 Contact Email: thomasg@uw.edu Research & Clinical Interests Research Interests: Dr. Gallagher's research explores the interfaces between healthcare quality, accountability, and communication. Over the last twenty years, he has led a variety of qualitative and quantitive research projects addressing the optimal response to adverse events and errors in healthcare, work that has supported the development of what are known as Communication and Resolution Programs (CRPs). CRPs are comprehensive, principled, and systematic programs for preventing and responding to harm events in healthcare. This body of research was recognized in 2017 with the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement, presented by the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission. Dr. Gallagher recently received a 4-year, $4 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to partner with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital on an ambitious research project to detect cases of delayed diagnosis of cancer in real time and respond to these situations with patient support and learning. His research also seeks to promote more effective approaches to professionalism and self-regulation, specifically addressing the challenges of ensuring the safe practice of physicians as they age. In addition to this scholarship, Dr. Gallagher built and leads a national program to advance the implementation of highly reliable CRPs, the Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement (CAI). The CAI supports a variety of initiatives to support healthcare organizations with their work on CRPs; promotes CRP-related policy at the federal, state, and local levels; and drives CRP innovation. Research Interests Ethical and communication issues in conflicts of interestResearch ethicsDisclosure of medical errors and adverse events Publications PubMed: PubMed BibliographyPublications: Gallagher TH, St Peter RF, Chesney M, Lo B. 2001. Patients' attitudes toward cost control bonuses for managed care physicians. Health affairs (Project Hope). 20(2):186–92. Gallagher TH, Waterman AD, Ebers AG, Fraser VJ, Levinson W. 2003. Patients' and physicians' attitudes regarding the disclosure of medical errors. JAMA. 289(8):1001–7. Gallagher TH, Garbutt JM, Waterman AD, Flum DR, Larson EB, Waterman BM, Dunagan CW, Fraser VJ, Levinson W. 2006. Choosing your words carefully: How physicians would disclose harmful medical errors to patients. Archives of internal medicine. 166(15):1585–93. Gallagher TH, Studdert D, Levinson W. 2007. Disclosing harmful medical errors to patients. The New England Journal of Medicine. 356(26):2713–9. Gallagher TH. 2009. A 62-year-old woman with skin cancer who experienced wrong-site surgery: Review of medical error. JAMA. 302(6):669–77. Dudzinski DM, Hébert PC, Foglia MB, Gallagher TH. 2010. The disclosure dilemma: Large-scale adverse events. The New England journal of medicine. 363(10):978–86.
