From left, Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr and Welmoed Kirsten van Deen participate in a panel discussion with Steve Asch, right, during the inaugural Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science Guest Speaker Series.

Steven Asch, MD, MPD, professor of medicine at Stanford University, was the featured speaker on July 5 at the inaugural Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science Guest Speaker Series.

Asch’s lecture, “The New Science of Implementation” examined implementation research and outcomes.

“Implementation science sounds like a good idea — but are we doing it?” Asch said. “I think we could do better.”

Asch is vice-chief for research in the division of general medical disciplines at Stanford University and chief of health services research at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. He develops and evaluates quality measurement and improvement systems, often in the care of patients with communicable or chronic disease. Asch has led several national projects developing broad-based quality measurement tools for veterans, Medicare beneficiaries and the community.

The speaker series was held at Aresty Auditorium and hosted by Michael Hochman, MD, MPH, assistant professor of clinical medicine, and director, Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“The Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science Guest Speaker Series is an opportunity to educate health care students and professionals on implementing evidence-based practices in real-world settings,” Hochman said. “We are grateful for the opportunity to present the speaker series.”

The event also featured a panel discussion with Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr, MD, assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine and Welmoed Kirsten van Deen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of research medicine.

The physicians discussed a pilot program recently implemented at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center that allows health care professionals to identify patients for opiate addiction treatment.

A video of the event is available at: http://gehrcenter.usc.edu/programs/speaker-series/

The series is made possible thanks to a gift from Norbert Gehr, the founder and chairman of The Gehr Group who supported the start the USC Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science. The gift was made to Gehr’s longtime primary care physician, David Goldstein, MD, vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Medicine, who founded the Center under Hochman’s leadership. The mission of the Gehr Center is to advance the science of health care delivery in real-world health systems.

by Douglas Morino