Dr Joseph Frolkis Named VP, Medical AffairsPatient Care, Quality Improvement Drive New Position
Dr Joseph Frolkis Named VP, Medical Affairs
Patient Care, Quality Improvement Drive New Position
New Milford â Top priorities on most health care trend lists include patient safety, quality and performance improvement initiatives that ensure the best care and clinical outcomes for patients. Often, this involves new technologies for diagnosis and treatment and incorporates advances, such as the electronic medical record, that directly impact quality by reducing medical errors.
These priorities prompted New Milford Hospital (NMH), like many hospitals across the country, to seek a chief medical officer who reinforces the link between hospital operations, quality, and safety initiatives.
In New Milfordâs case, Dr Joseph Frolkis was already on staff and directing its heart disease prevention program, a multidisciplinary service that is unique in this region. Dr Frolkis will continue as medical director of that program and hopes to continue expanding the hospitalâs preventive medicine programs.
In his added role, Dr Frolkis will help ensure the best patient care in the safest environment, lend a medical perspective to quality improvement programs, and oversee accountability for quality measures with the medical staff. Beginning July 1, he will also supervise the medical staff office and work with department chairs on compliance issues, government and regulatory guidelines, and the credentialing process.
Dr Frolkis joined NMH last summer from University Hospitals of Cleveland and was previously affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. At University Hospitals, Dr Frolkis was director of the center for cardiovascular disease reduction and chief of the division of general internal medicine, geriatrics and health care research.
He was also an associate professor of medicine, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr Frolkis is the author of numerous articles in the medical literature, including published studies in the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Medicine, and the American Journal of Cardiology.
His clinical trials in cardiovascular treatment have been supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Merck & Co., Parke-Davis, Novartis and Pfizer, among others.