Announcing the Under Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Systems Research

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Announcing the Under Secretary's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Systems Research

Hardeep Singh, MD, MPH, a senior research scientist at HSR's Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt) in Houston, Texas, has received the prestigious 2024 Under Secretary's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Systems Research-the highest honor for a VA health systems researcher. The award recognizes exceptional investigators who:

• Conduct research that leads to a major improvement in the quality of Veterans' healthcare or adds significantly to the understanding of factors that affect the health of Veterans,
• Make a substantive contribution to the future of VA health systems research by inspiring a new generation of investigators and demonstrating excellence in training and mentorship of new investigators, and
• Enhance the visibility and reputation of VA research through national leadership in the research community.

Since 2005, Dr. Singh has built a multidisciplinary research team at IQuESt that integrates cognitive science, informatics, human factors, social science, and clinical medicine to better understand how to define, measure, and reduce diagnostic errors and leverage the use of health information technology (HIT) to improve patient safety. The team's research found that diagnostic errors, such as preventable delays in diagnosis or incorrectly diagnosed conditions, can occur across all levels of care and lead to delayed or unnecessary treatment. They estimated that 1 in 20 outpatient U.S. adults experiences a diagnostic error annually.

Dr. Singh's work has significantly and directly impacted VA healthcare. For example, he co-led the revision of VHA Directive 1088 on communication of test results in collaboration with the VA Office of Primary Care. This directive provides national guidance to VA medical facilities on communicating normal test results to patients within 14 days, or within 7 days when test results require follow-up. As a result of this directive and Dr. Singh's research, the VA Office of Performance Measurement developed new performance indicators surrounding the timeliness of test result communications as well as guidance on data collection.

Research conducted by Dr. Singh and his team has not only clarified our conceptual understanding of diagnostic error and its burden on Veterans but has also provided practical tools and strategies to measure and mitigate diagnostic errors across all patient populations. The "Safer Dx Checklist," for example, created by Dr. Singh and his team in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, includes 10 actionable steps that healthcare leaders can take to pursue diagnostic excellence. The Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides, developed by Dr. Singh, Dean Sittig, PhD, of UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics, and their teams, provide checklists for hospitals to assess patient safety issues related to electronic health records (EHRs) and HIT, including artificial intelligence (AI). Beginning in 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services required all U.S. hospitals eligible for reimbursement to attest annually to their use of these guides.

Through his scholarship and national and international leadership roles, Dr. Singh has elevated the visibility of VA research and sparked momentum for policy changes around the globe. His patient safety work has appeared in more than 400 publications, including many top-tier journals, and has been cited in numerous national and international reports, including publications from the National Academy of Medicine, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the White House, as well as high-profile publications for broader audiences, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Working with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dr. Singh co-developed resources such as Measure Dx and Calibrate Dx to improve diagnosis at the organizational and clinician levels. On the international stage, Dr. Singh has long collaborated with WHO, including serving as co-leader of working groups, member of the writing committee for WHO's "Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030," and writing lead for their COVID-19-related patient safety review and a forthcoming technical report on diagnostic errors. These documents provide patient safety policy and strategic guidance to all countries and health systems aiming to eliminate avoidable harm in healthcare.

Dr. Singh's professional and scholarly contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2016 HSR Health System Impact Award for significant policy and practice impact of patient safety and EHR-related work in VA, and the 2021 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award from the Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum for lifetime achievement.

In addition to his many accomplishments, Dr. Singh has consistently demonstrated a commitment to mentoring future investigators, devoting significant time and energy to the education and career advancement of a diverse group of trainees and junior faculty. Over the past two decades, he has mentored more than 100 people. His passion for mentoring is evident at IQuESt, where he has fostered a highly collaborative environment.

"Hardeep's leadership in diagnostic excellence and in HIT, coupled with his leadership in developing useful and practical informatics tools and strategies, has been transformative for the health systems research field. His work on diagnostic excellence is internationally recognized and has been impactful for patient care at the VA and beyond. He is extremely deserving of this prestigious award."

-Sanjay Saint, MD, MPH, MACP, Chief of Medicine, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

HSR is pleased to present Dr. Singh with this well-deserved award and joins his colleagues in celebrating his achievements.