The Society of Hospital Medicine Awards Kevin J. O’Leary, MD, MS, MHM, With Exclusive Master in Hospital Medicine Designation

Dr. O’Leary Recognized for Dedication to Hospital Medicine as Leader in Quality and Patient Safety

The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) recently named two new Masters in Hospital Medicine (MHM) to honor those who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to the principles of leadership, teamwork, and quality improvement within the specialty of hospital medicine. They join 37 other honorees for a total of 39 Masters in Hospital Medicine. Kevin O’Leary, MD, MS, MHM, has been elected a Master in Hospital Medicine in recognition of his leadership, service, and innovations to advance the field of hospital medicine.

“Becoming a Master in Hospital Medicine is among the highest honors in the field and demonstrates a significant impact on the specialty and healthcare as a whole,” notes Eric E. Howell, MD, MHM, Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Hospital Medicine. “Our newest inductees are hospital medicine visionaries whose passion has inspired innovations that help to transform patient care for all populations.”

Dr. O’Leary is known for his contributions to education in hospital medicine. He has created an international reputation with nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal publications leading the way in healthcare quality and safety research, showing improvements in hospital-based care with interventions in areas such as: teamwork, interdisciplinary training and communication, and geographic localization.

Dr. O’Leary completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. He currently serves as the John T. Clarke Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he is also Chief in the Division of Hospital Medicine. He also is the Medical Director of Quality at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he is the site liaison to the Hospital Medicine Reengineering Network, also known as HOMERuN. He serves as faculty in the Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Master’s Program at Northwestern. He also formed and is director of the Academy for Quality and Safety Improvement at Northwestern Medicine. He has performed national work with grant support from AHRQ, the NIH, and SHM.

He has been a member of SHM since 2002 and has been an active member of the Interdisciplinary Rounding Special Interest Group (SIG), for which he currently serves as Executive Council Member. Dr. O’Leary has also presented at multiple SHM annual conferences and regional meetings. He also was one of the original core faculty for SHM’s Quality & Safety Educators Academy, or QSEA.

The newest Masters in Hospital Medicine were recognized on April 9, 2022, at SHM’s annual conference, SHM Converge, in Nashville, TN. For more information on SHM’s Master in Hospital Medicine designation and to view all previous recipients, visit https://hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.