Karen Frush, BSN, MD, CPPS

Karen is a physician leader and pediatric emergency physician who's spent most of her 35-year healthcare career improving the quality and safety of patient care and the well-being of the healthcare team. She began her career as a nurse, attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and graduating summa cum laude with a BSN. Throughout her student tenure at Duke University School of Medicine, she worked part-time as a nurse, an experience that was immensely impactful on the rest of her medical career. Having often been “on the other side of the bed,” staying with patients after the medical team finished their rounds and walked away, she listened to questions that were unanswered by the physicians before they left the room and witnessed the bedside view of patients’ suffering. She learned humbling lessons from patients and families that would stay with her as she continued training and practicing.

After medical school and residency, Karen served as medical director of pediatric emergency medicine and became professor of pediatrics and clinical professor of nursing at Duke University. She served as the chief patient safety officer of the Duke University Health System for 12 years. Also, she served as chief quality officer of the Duke Quality Network and vice president for quality at LifePoint Health. In 2018, she was named the chief quality officer at Stanford HealthCare in Palo Alto, CA, and served as clinical professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics, associate dean for clinical affairs at the Stanford University School of Medicine and co-executive director of the Stanford Medicine Center for Improvement.

Karen is interested in interprofessional training, high-performing teams and transforming healthcare culture. She is a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer and a Certified Professional in Patient Safety. Since 2014, she has been named one of 50 experts leading the field of patient safety. She has served on the board of advisors and board of directors for the National Patient Safety Foundation, and as chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety.