Michael Leonard MD

Dr. Leonard, a founder of Safe & Reliable Healthcare, is a cardiac anesthesiologist by training, who spent 20 years with Kaiser Permanente, both in the Colorado region as a practicing clinician and leader, and 10 years as the National Physician Leader for Patient Safety across the Kaiser system. In 1999, he helped Kaiser forge a collaborative relationship with Dr. Robert Helmreich’s Human Factors Research Project, which was seminal in bringing Crew Resource Management into aviation, to work on the application of human factors teamwork and communication training into healthcare. Dr. Leonard is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.

Dr. Leonard has a deep interest in culture, leadership, teamwork, and reliability in diverse areas of clinical practice. He has taught extensively throughout the Kaiser system and outside organizations in high-risk areas such as surgery, obstetrics, critical care, and others to enhance safety. At the IHI, he has been active in several domains, including the Patient Safety Officer Training Course, Transforming Care at the Bedside, the Safer Patients Initiative in the United Kingdom, and Patient Safety Scotland.

In addition to teaching and lecturing widely, Dr. Leonard recently collaborated on the third book on patient safety, The Essential Guide for Patient Safety Officers which was published by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and the Joint Commission.