The Joint Commission announces the appointment of Edward Pollak, MD, as medical director and patient safety officer, Division of Healthcare Improvement, and Andrew C. Bland, MD, MBA, FAAP, FACP, as medical director, Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation. Both appointments were effective January 2.

Pollak’s responsibilities include providing oversight and medical expertise to the Office of Quality and Patient Safety, which reviews and responds to reports of patient safety events at accredited and certified health care organizations. He will also provide oversight for the interpretation of clinical accreditation standards and lead the Patient Safety Advisory Group, a panel of external health care industry experts, to identify emerging patient safety issues and advise on the development of National Patient Safety Goals, Sentinel Event Alerts and accreditation standards.

Pollak most recently served as vice chief of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at William Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak, and associate professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Royal Oak, Michigan.

Moreover, his colleague, Andrew Bland, will identify key quality and safety improvement targets at The Joint Commission, and select strategies—such as standards, survey methods, measures, and publications—to address them. He will lead The Joint Commission’s efforts to identify best practices and quality improvement tools for meeting new standards and performance measure requirements.

“The Joint Commission and our accredited and certified organizations will benefit from the expertise Dr. Bland is bringing to his new post,” maintains Bland’s new supervisor David W. Baker, MD, MPH, FACP, the executive vice president of The Joint Commission’s Division of Health Care Quality Evaluation.

“[Bland] was instrumental in quality improvement efforts at the multi-hospital system where he previously worked,” Baker adds. “His training in analytics, combined with his experience as a clinician and administrator, will assist The Joint Commission in advancing the development of relevant, evidence-based standards and measures.”