Michael O’Dell, M.D., chief quality officer, North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, MS

Michael O’Dell, M.D., an ASQ member, recently became chief quality officer at North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC), where he directs the hospital’s clinical quality and outcomes program. He works with management and clinicians to sustain the excellence in clinical outcomes at NMMC, which was recognized by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2006. In addition, O’Dell will also continue in his role as director of the medical center’s family medicine residency program (FMRP).

O’Dell received his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and his doctorate of medicine from the University of Kansas Medical Center at Kansas City. After a year of internship, O’Dell was called to active duty with the Navy. He later returned to the University of Kansas to complete his residency training, and then joined the faculty there. He completed a master’s degree in health care administration at University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2005. He has written several professional articles and book chapters. O’Dell has served on the faculties of the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

He has served as director of the FMRP since March 2002. During his tenure at NMMC, O’Dell—who has participated in some Six Sigma training—has overseen the full accreditation of the program and has successfully grown the program to 20 current physicians in training, in addition to other duties at the facility.

O’Dell serves on the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on Quality and on the Physician Engagement Advisory Committee for the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. He is a governor’s appointee to the Mississippi Hospital Equipment and Financing Authority, which is the state’s bond agency for healthcare facilities. Additionally, O’Dell is vice president for the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians. He is an elected member of Mississippi State Medical Association’s Committee on Education and also serves on the Publications Committee.

O’Dell said he entered the quality field because most physicians are truly interested in the quality of care they provide. His prior experiences, including the amount of time he spent in the Navy, also piqued his interest in pursuing a quality career. Additionally, during his time as a residency trainer, he wondered whether about if he adequately prepared the residents. “I really thought I needed to be involved with more quality,” he said.

One of the greatest challenges currently facing healthcare is that the industry is behind in terms of the measurement of the outcomes, O’Dell said. “One of the biggest issues is having good access to good measures.” Several initiatives are underway to standardize the NMMC’s measures, he said. The hospital is currently designing measures related to chronic illness.

Other challenges face quality professionals involved in healthcare, O’Dell said. “One of the major challenges facing the quality professional is a number of people in medicine still regard themselves as artisans rather than people whose quality can actually be measured,” O’Dell said. This can be overcome by showing that quality can be measured in medicine and that quality does apply to people engaged in giving care, O’Dell said. Medical professionals need to move into more of a quality mindset, he added.  

One quality initiative in place at NMMC is focused on harm measures, O’Dell said. Harm, in this case, means the hospital admits someone, and through a mistake or error, that person is harmed rather than helped, he said. “Obviously, that is a critical concern. We want to make certain we reduce that harm. I’m working very hard on that.”

An ongoing initiative involves core, or primary measures, O’Dell said. This helps make sure the hospital delivers the expected high quality.

O’Dell’s advice for someone new to quality is pretty typical, he said: “Go slow to go fast. To get good buy-in on things you want to improve, make sure people understand. After you’ve got that, the rest goes very quickly. See how quickly things can move.”