Ada Stefanescu, MD, MSc
EDC Heart Center | 2014
Dr. Ada Stefanescu is a clinical and research fellow in the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center, splitting her time between the hospital wards, Cath Lab, outpatient clinic, and a research lab. Dr. Stefanescu won an Ether Dome Challenge grant for her idea ‘No EKG Left Behind’, which aims to set as best practice around the EKGs of discharged patients.
Due to the efforts of the ‘No EKG Left Behind’ project, the number of patients with a discharge EKG posted to the EMR rose from 36% to 54% over the summer of 2015. The most rewarding part of innovation for Dr. Stefanescu is seeing patients and colleagues benefit from the changes. For the future of innovation, Dr. Stefanescu believes, “Patient buy-in and involvement in their healthcare is essential, but unfortunately can’t be taken for granted. As technology is becoming a bigger part of our lives, we need to find ways for it to bring doctors and patients closer together, as opposed to becoming another barrier between us.”
Dr. Stefanescu’s project not only conducting an electrocardiogram (EKG) on every patient who gets discharged after a heart attack, but more importantly ensuring that the final EKG is recorded in the electronic medical record before the patient leaves. Ensuring that the final EKG is on record enables future care teams to have the most accurate picture of the patient’s heart, which can be used as a comparison when they go back to their doctor’s office or during an unplanned trip to the emergency room.
