John Eichhorn, MD

Dr. John Eichhorn has been central in the patient safety movement since its inception in the mid 1980s, with special note for his introduction of the idea of intraoperative "safety monitoring" in a landmark 1989 paper. Dr. Eichhorn chaired the Harvard Risk Management Committee that wrote the original "Harvard Standards" which dramatically reduced anesthesia accidents and inspired many later national and international safety standards. He helped launch the first organization dedicated to patient safety: the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. Dr. Eichhorn helped create the well-known World Health Organization “Surgical Safety Checklist”. In 2011, Dr. Eichhorn received from the Joint Commission/National Quality Forum the highest honor for patient safety efforts: the John M. Eisenberg Award for Individual Achievement in Patient Safety and Quality.