Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD

Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, is a practicing anesthesiologist, critical care , professor, director of the Armstrong Institute for and Quality, and senior vice president for patient safety and quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Dr. Pronovost developed a scientifically proven method that has virtually eliminated deadly infections associated with central line catheters. This simple, but effective, checklist has saved 1,500 lives and $100 million annually across . The checklist protocol is now being implemented across the and has helped reduce catheter-related infections by 60 percent. Several other countries are also implementing this program.

Dr. Pronovost has chronicled his work helping improve patient safety in his new book, Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor’s Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out. In addition, he has published more than 400 articles related to patient safety and the measurement and evaluation of safety efforts. He serves in an advisory capacity to the World Health Organizations’ World Alliance for Patient Safety, and is the winner of several national awards, including the 2004 John Eisenberg Patient Safety Research Award and a coveted MacArthur Fellowship in 2008. He also was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people for his work in patient safety.

Dr. Pronovost regularly addresses Congress on the importance of patient safety, which has resulted in a report by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to strongly endorse his intensive care unit infection prevention program.

Steven D. Findlay, MPH

Steven Findlay, MPH, is a senior health policy analyst at Consumers Union (CU), the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. Mr. Findlay tracks and develops policy and advocates on a range of healthcare issues with special focus on health insurance, provider accountability, quality improvement, comparative effectiveness research, and health information technology. He also works with CU’s Health Ratings Center, which evaluates and rates medical products and healthcare providers and services.

Mr. Findlay started at CU in August 2004 and served as the managing editor of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, a grant-funded project that provides consumers with information comparing prescription drug treatments. Before joining CU, he was director of research and policy at the National Institute for Health Care Management in Washington, DC. He also was senior policy analyst at the National Coalition on Health Care. His work in both positions focused on health reform, health insurance coverage, healthcare cost issues, Medicare, quality of care, and health information technology. Mr. Findlay also had a 20-year career as a medical and healthcare journalist and editor. He worked at both trade and mass media publications, including USA TODAY, U.S. News & World Report and Business & Health magazine.

Mr. Findlay received his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado and has a master’s degree in public health from .