Wassam Rahman, M.D., Division Chief, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Nathan P. Dean, M.D., Division Chief, Pediatric Critical Care
Stephen Kennedy, M.D., Division Chief, Hospitalist Medicine

Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital

The Systemic Process to Improve Respiratory Evaluations (SPIRE) team is a collaboration among the Pediatric Emergency Center, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and the hospitalist program, working together to ensure the right patient is placed in the right bed at the right location.

Under the leadership of Drs. Wassam Rahman, Nathan Dean and Stephen Kennedy, the SPIRE initiative has established a streamlined and patient-centered approach to admission decision-making. Through effective communication, data-driven assessment and interdisciplinary coordination, the team has optimized the process of determining the most appropriate level of care for pediatric patients with diagnoses of asthma, bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

SPIRE has significantly reduced unnecessary PICU admissions, minimized patient transfers and prevented avoidable rapid response activations, leading to improved patient safety and resource utilization.

This collaboration exemplifies the power of teamwork across departments, highlighting how shared goals and unified processes can directly enhance clinical outcomes and patient care experiences. The process of eliciting and reviewing data provides a successful model for other multidisciplinary initiatives.

Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

(Team members: Jillian Anderson, R.N., Melissa Blakeman, M.D., Tammy Buettner, M.S.N., Carlye Page, R.N., Jill Cherundolo R.N., Erika Conley, R.N., Kenneth De Guzman, R.N., Ruthann Evans, R.N., Sarah Gamerman, R.N., Ayacinth Sarah Good, R.N., Linda Hornis, R.N., Karen Jagdeo, R.N., Misty Nuzzo, R.N., Aysha Sajid, R.N.)

The Johns Hopkins Community Physicians (JHCP) Central Nursing team exemplifies clinical excellence through their expertise, dedication and collaborative approach. Led by Dr. Melissa Blakeman, Tammy Buettner and Aysha Sajid, the team demonstrates a remarkable commitment to improving patient outcomes and supporting their colleagues across JHCP.

The team handles triage, answers patient calls for advice requests, shares lab results and more.

Oftentimes, the team supports practices during staffing challenges. Offering coverage during vacancies, callouts, PTO and periods of high workload ensures continuity of care and prevents disruptions in service. Says one practice administrator, “Knowing that we can seamlessly transfer calls to Central Nursing allows our physicians and advanced practice providers to feel confident that every patient will receive the assistance they need, even in their absence.” The Central Nursing team embodies the spirit of unity within JHCP, and its dedication to supporting every clinic is a perfect example of the core values of our organization.

Habib Khan, M.D.
Director Palliative Care
Gilchrist at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center

Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center

Recognizing an opportunity to improve quality of life for patients in the special care unit (SCU), Darlene Norton launched the P-CaRES screening tool as part of her doctor of nursing practice quality improvement project in collaboration with the SCU team. While Dr. Habib Khan, director of palliative care, served as the supervising physician, the development, implementation and success of the initiative were driven by Norton and the SCU nursing team. Since implementation, appropriate referrals from the SCU to palliative care have increased by 10%, ensuring earlier access to symptom management and supportive services.

The tool has strengthened nursing confidence in recommending palliative care consultations, helping to reduce staff burnout while better supporting patients and families navigating chronic critical illness.

Additionally, the palliative care team launched the Mobile Hospice Response Team (MHRT) in collaboration with Christina Yuan, the medical center’s executive director of strategy and performance excellence, to provide end-of-life care for hospitalized patients who are too unstable for transfer to hospice facilities. In its first year, MHRT served more than 100 patients, providing compassionate, high-quality, end-of-life care while supporting families and bedside nurses in symptom management.

“Two moments in life are never forgotten — witnessing someone’s birth and witnessing someone’s death,” notes Khan. The goal of this work is to ensure that families experience their loved ones’ final moments with dignity, comfort and peace, supported by a team prepared to provide the care that patients, families and clinicians deserve.

Dr. Ameesh Vora and the utilization management team are honored for visionary leadership, uncompromising dedication and genuine compassion in implementing a more structured and effective approach to managing complex patient discharges. With an emphasis on collaboration and open communication, the team established a weekly multidisciplinary meeting and shared dashboard to resolve barriers to discharge through coordinated action.

“Dr. Vora personally engages with providers to guide bedside teams in understanding each patient’s clinical status and disposition options,” one colleague writes. The team “develops thoughtful, individualized discharge plans that are safe, viable and patient-approved.”

This approach has yielded meaningful results, including shorter hospital stays, enhanced patient experience and greater staff engagement. The team’s success now serves as a blueprint for other Johns Hopkins hospitals, demonstrating the power of clinical collaboration in driving systemwide improvements.

“Dr. Vora has reimagined the discharge planning process,” another colleague writes, “elevating it beyond administrative function to a model of proactive, compassionate coordination that consistently places patients and their needs at the heart of every decision.”