March 16, 2007

Innovation key to Bowditch Prize

The Nathaniel Bowditch Prize is given annually to an MGHer who has made significant contributions towards increasing the quality of care at the hospital while reducing costs. At its core the award fosters a culture of creativity, innovation and
collaboration at the MGH. This year, the selection committee, chaired by Surgeon-in-Chief Andrew L. Warshaw, MD, selected Lee H. Schwamm, MD, vice chairman of the MGH Department of Neurology, as the winner.

Schwamm, who leads the Acute Stroke Quality Taskforce, was acknowledged for designing and developing the Partners TeleStroke Center, founded in 1997. Through the use of videoconferencing technology, the TeleStroke Center allows MGH stroke specialists to examine the brain CT scans of patients at other hospitals to help diagnose acute ischemic stroke and quickly recommend a treatment plan. This informed consultation facilitates immediate treatment with tissue plasminogen activator, a clot-busting drug that, in addition to preserving life and function if administered in a timely manner, saves the health care system an estimated $4,000 per treated patient. The program will extend nationally this year as the Partners TeleStroke Center trains Swedish Medical Center in Seattle to become the hub of its own TeleStroke network serving the Pacific Northwest.

Speakers at the March 12 ceremony included Warshaw; Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president; David Torchiana, MD, Massachusetts General Physicians Organization chairman and chief executive officer; and Edward Lawrence, president of the MGH Board of Trustees. Warshaw noted in his remarks that since the award is peer-nominated, it encourages appreciation and acknowledgement of excellence among colleagues. In agreement, Torchiana added, "Real innovation within an institution almost invariably comes from the front lines." Slavin acknowledged the MGH Board of Trustees, which created the prize in 2000 with support from Charles and Nancy Munger and the Alfred C. Munger Foundation. Lawrence spoke of the award's namesake, Nathaniel Bowditch, a 19th-century celestial navigator and author whose family history is deeply intertwined with the MGH — one son was an MGH surgeon and another an administrator and MGH historian — and commented that the two qualities that Bowditch and the winner of his prize share are a spirit of innovation and a deep commitment to the hospital.

Schwamm, who was nominated by Jeff Davis, senior vice president of Human Resources, received $5,000 in addition to the certificate and lapel pin distributed to all nominees. Says Schwamm, "I've been at the MGH my whole career, and I can't think of a place that's more supportive of innovation and clinical care."