2012 AIMIS Summit - American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery

2012 AIMIS Summit 

Las Vegas | June 22 – 24, 2012

The Multispecialty Surgical Center of Excellence Movement: 

Empowering Outcomes Through Preparation, Transparency and Accountability

A Special Invitation 

Dear Colleague, 

Please accept our invitation to join us at the 2012 AIMIS Summit. This year’s Governing Body has developed an agenda featuring 

some of the most prominent leaders in surgery, insurance and hospital administration who will share their perspectives and best 

practices as we come together to collaborate on the current issues impacting the future of healthcare. 

As Chairs, we are committed to a conference that is highly relevant and exclusive. Access to your peers within the world of 

healthcare delivery and administration for strategic conversations and the development of a strong professional network is critical 

to our future success. We are proud of this year’s agenda and excited for what we can achieve together. 

We look forward to spending this time with you. 

Your 2012 Governing Body Chairs 

Des Cummings, Ph.D. 

President 

Florida Hospital 

Foundation 

Douglas Ott, M.D., MBA 

Chief Medical Offi cer 

Lexion Medical 

Christopher A. Guinn 

Chief Operating Offi cer 

American Institute of 

Minimally Invasive Surgery 

James C. Butch Rosser Jr., M.D. 

FACS, Professor of Surgery 

Morehouse School of Medicine 

Steven McCarus, M.D. 

Chief of 

Gynecological Surgery 


Celebration Health 

Paul Wetter, M.D. 

FACOG, FACS, Chairman 

Society of Laparoendoscopic 

Surgeons

2012 Governing Body 

Anthony Antonacchi, M.D. 

ScM, FACS, Chief Medical Officer 

Long Island Jewish Medical Center 

Mary Creeden-Redan, RN 

CNOR 

Florida Hospital Celebration Health 

Tommaso Falcone, M.D. 

Professor & Chair Obstetrics, 

Gynecology and Women’s 

Health Institute 

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation 

Bernard A. Harris, Jr., M.D., MBA 

CEO & Managing Director, Vesalius 

Ventures, Inc., & Former NASA 

Astronaut, Mayo ‘85 

Peter Hayes 

Principal 

Healthcare Solutions 

Moises Jacobs, M.D. 

FACS Associate Medical Director of 

Laparoscopic Services 

Jackson South Community Hospital 

Steven Keltie 

EVP 

Aspen Management Corporation 

Mark Martens, M.D. 

Meridian Obstetrics and 

Gynecology Associates 

Chuck Miller, M.D. 

FACOG, The Advanced Gynecologic 

Surgery Institute 

Don Moorman, M.D. 

FACS, Associate Professor 

of Surgery 

Harvard Medical School 

Mona Orady, M.D. 

Director of Robotic 

Surgery Education 

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation 

Gustavo Plasencia, M.D. 

FACRS Clinical Professor of 

Colorectal Surgery 

Florida International University 

Anthony C. Quartell, M.D. 

FACOG, FACS 


& Associates 

Jay Redan, M.D. 

FACS, Director of Minimally 

Invasive General Surgery, Associate 

Professor of Surgery University of 

Central Florida Medical School 

Jerry Reeves, M.D. 

Vice President of Medical Affairs 

HealthInsight of Nevada 

Steven D. Schwaitzberg, M.D. 

FACS, Chief of Surgery 

Cambridge Health Alliance 

Richard M. Vazquez, M.D. 

RVT, RPVI, FACS, Assistant Clinical 

Professor of Surgery 

Northwestern University Feinberg 

School of Medicine 

Natan Zundel, M.D. 

FACS FASMBS, Vice-chairman 

Department of Surgery 

FIU Herbert Wertheim College 

of Medicine 

The Governing Body creates a conference that addresses the opportunities and challenges we face in today’s healthcare climate. Our commitment 

is to build a program that provides insightful and collaborative exchanges that help us maintain relevance and define the future of healthcare.

Presented by 

The American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery 

The American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery (AIMIS) is the nation’s pre-eminent educator of advanced 

surgical techniques. AIMIS brings together hospitals, surgeons, clinics, medical technology companies, the 

insurance industry and patients by providing a platform to deliver advanced surgical procedures that improve 

surgical health care for patients of all ages. AIMIS teaches and supports minimally invasive gynecological, 

urogynecological and general surgical methods and supports members with business strategies to help grow 

and strengthen their practice while improving patient outcomes through advanced surgical techniques. AIMIS 

also provides resources for patients, corporate partners, physician members and affiliates to help foster minimally 

invasive surgery techniques that provide speedier recoveries, reduced scarring, lower infection rates and lower 

costs. Join the movement! 

www.aimis.org

Conference Overview 

Friday, June 22 

6:30am Sign In, Registration & Breakfast 

7:30am Welcome & Announcement 


7:45am Healthcare Reform: What is in the 2,400 

Page Document? 

James Rosser, M.D. 

8:30am The Impact of Healthcare Reform: Stakeholder by 

Stakeholder 


9:15am Stakeholder Forum: Visceral Reactions 

Douglas Ott, M.D. 

9:45am Coffee Break & Exhibits 

10:15am Stakeholder Formulas for Success 


10:45am Centers of Excellence: The Value Proposition of 

Technology 

Bernard A. Harris Jr., M.D. 

11:15am Healthcare Reform: The Massachusetts Experience 

11:30am Healthcare Reform – Town Hall Meeting 

Moderator – Chuck Miller, M.D. 

12:15pm Lunch Keynote | Changing Face of Healthcare & 

Healthcare Reform 


2:00pm Live Surgical Cases 

Saturday, June 23 


7:30am Welcome & Announcements 

James Rosser, M.D. 

7:45am The OR READY Movement 

James Rosser, M.D. and Paul Wetter, M.D. 

8:00am Tales from the Dark Side: Real World OR Experiences 

Richard Vazquez, M.D. 

8:30am Anatomy of a Surgical Error 

Don Moorman, M.D. 

8:50am Errors in the OR: A Nurse’s Perspective from the Front Lines 

9:10am What Does an OR Error Mean to the Hospital: 

A Hospital Administrator’s Vantage Point 

Anthony Antonacci, M.D. 

9:30am Video Capture & Analysis for Patient Safety in the OR 


10:30am Building a Patient OR Safety Checklist from Scratch 

Richard Vazquez, M.D.; James Rosser, M.D. and 


11:30am How Does It All Fit: Town Hall Meeting 

Moderators – Anthony Quartell, M.D. and Mona Orady, M.D. 

12:00pm Lunch Keynote | Today’s Healthcare Mantra: No Patient 

Left Behind 

Former Secretary U.S. Department of Education Rod Paige, Ph.D. 

2:00pm Live Surgical Cases

Sunday, June 24 


8:30am Welcome & Announcements 


8:45am Medical Malpractice: What Physicians Can Do to Help 

Themselves 

Steven Yerrid, Esquire 

9:30am The Surgeon’s Report Card 

Anthony Antonacci, M.D. 

10:15am The Performance Challenged Surgeon: The Problem 

and the One Possible Solution 



11:30am Perspectives of Those Who Pay the Bills: What Do 

They Want and How Will They Get It? 


12:30pm The Surgical Continuum 


Live Surgical Cases 

Friday, June 22 

• Live Robotic Sleeve Gastrectomy 

• Live Robotic Single Site Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy 

Saturday, June 23 

• Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy 

• Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy 

Registration Information 

Attendance is by invitation only. Due to 

limited seating, receipt of this invitation does 

not guarantee your seat at the conference. All 

individuals must be surgeons (GYN, general 

surgeons and urologists) or from hospital 

administration to attend. 

Advanced registration is $650 (with a $100 

discount for AIMIS members) and $250 

discount for nurses. 

June 22 – 24, 2012 | 7:30am – 6:00pm 

Four Seasons Hotel – Las Vegas, Nevada 

Registration Required. Access Strictly Controlled. 

https://register.evanta.com/event/index/id/395 

Invitation Code: D2A

2012 Speakers 


President 

Florida Hospital Foundation 


Chief of 

Gynecological Surgery 


Celebration Health 

Rod Paige, Ph.D. 

Former Secretary of Education 

United States of America 

Bernard A. Harris, Jr. 

M.D., MBA 

CEO & Managing Director, 

Vesalius Ventures, Inc., & 

Former NASA Astronaut, 

Mayo ‘85 


FACOG, The Advanced 

Gynecologic Surgery Institute 


FACOG, FACS 


& Associates 


Meridian Obstetrics and 

Gynecology Associates 


Chief Medical Officer 



FACS, Director of Minimally 

Invasive General Surgery, 

Associate Professor of Surgery 

University of Central Florida 

Medical School


Vice President of 

Medical Affairs 




Society of 

Laparoendoscopic Surgeons 

James C. Butch Rosser Jr., 

M.D. 



Steven Yerrid 

Attorney 

Yerrid Law Firm 


RVT, RPVI, FACS, Assistant 

Clinical Professor of Surgery 

Northwestern University 

Feinberg School of Medicine

Luncheon Keynote 

Changing Face of Healthcare & 


President Barack Obama signed into law the 

most comprehensive reform of American 

healthcare since Medicare. Twenty-six 

states have filed legal challenges to it. The 

Supreme Court has heard arguments about its 

constitutionality. The debate about the changing 

face of healthcare and reform rages on at every 

level and will affect every hospital in America. 

Let’s discuss. 


President 

Florida Hospital Foundation 

Des Cummings is EVP at Florida Hospital 

and president of Florida Hospital Foundation. 

In these roles he gives leadership in 

mission, planning, marketing, new business 

development, retail and foundations for the 

AHS hospitals in Central Florida. Previously, Dr. Cummings gave 

leadership to the development of Celebration Health in the Disney 

City of Celebration, Florida. 

Dr. Cummings holds a Ph.D. in leadership and management with 

emphasis in statistical forecasting from Andrews University. He 

also has an M.Div. and is an ordained minister of the Seventh-day 

Adventist Church. Dr. Cummings has authored and coauthored 

several books, including “CREATION Health” and the newly released 

“8 Secrets of a Healthy 100.” He speaks at national and international 

conferences on the future of healthcare, specializing in strategies 

for whole person care, healthy communities and the hospital of 

the future. 

Dr. Cummings is a healthcare planner focusing on defining a 

vision for transforming our community from a disease culture to a 

health culture. He has collaborated and continues to collaborate 

on the design of Health Village in Orlando, as well as other health 

concept communities.

Luncheon Keynote 

No Patient Left Behind 

The George W. Bush administration instigated 

many items that will impact the topology of the 

historic landscape of the United States for all 

time. One of them is the No Child Left Behind 

Act. At its heart, this policy acknowledged our 

broken educational system that was low in 

quality, too expensive and poorly accessible. 

The policy sought to promote change by 

introducing accountability, transparency and 

verification of excellence with metrics that 

matter. The shepherd of the policy, Dr. Rod 

Paige, will give us historic reference points 

and lessons learned as U.S. healthcare 

seeks to reinvent itself so that it “leaves no 

patient behind.” 

Rod Paige, Ph.D. 

Former Secretary of Education 

United States of America 

The United States Senate confirmed Dr. 

Rod Paige as the seventh U.S. Secretary of 

Education in 2001. During his tenure from 2001 

to 2005, he spearheaded the implementation of 

the historic No Child Left Behind Act, with its 

goal of reinvigorating America’s education system. 

Paige served for a decade as dean of the College of Education 

at Texas Southern University (TSU). Elected in 1989, Paige was 

sworn in as a trustee and an officer of the Board of Education of 

the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in January 1990, 

in which capacities he served until 1994. In 1994, Paige left TSU to 

become superintendent of HISD, the nation’s seventh largest school 

district. Inside Houston Magazine named Paige one of “Houston’s 

25 most powerful people” in guiding the city’s growth and prosperity. 

In 2001, he was named National Superintendent of the Year by the 

American Association of School Administrators. 

Born in 1933 in segregated Monticello, Miss., Paige’s 

accomplishments speak of his commitment to education. He earned 

a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University in his home 

state. He then earned both a master’s and a doctoral degree from 

Indiana University.

Town Hall Meeting 


On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed 

the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

It was subsequently amended by the Healthcare 

and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. For 

better or for worse, this piece of legislation has 

been labeled the most significant change in our 

healthcare system since Medicare and Medicaid 

were created. 

Recently, our healthcare picture has become 

even cloudier as the Supreme Court has taken 

up the question of legality of several aspects 

of the Act. Some pundits question whether the 

entire bill is in jeopardy. 

This town hall-style meeting will address the 

muddled landscape that is healthcare reform. In 

an open and frank dialogue, we will explore the 

shape of things to come. We will look through 

the eyes of healthcare providers (the physician 

and hospital administration), industry and 

third party providers. Central to the forum will 

be a discussion about how each of the arms 

of our healthcare spectrum will be impacted 

and therefore should be positioned to face the 

upcoming challenges. 


FACOG, The Advanced Gynecologic 

Surgery Institute 

Dr. Charles Miller, FACOG, is an internationally 

renowned expert in minimally invasive 

gynecologic surgery and the treatment of 

infertile couples. 

He is president of the International Society for Gynecologic 

Endoscopy (ISGE); clinical associate professor in the department of 

obstetrics and gynecology, University of Chicago and University of 

Illinois at Chicago; director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, 

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Ill.; and director of 

the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL)/ 

SRS fellowship program in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, 

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. 

Dr. Miller is also the chairman of the AAGL’s reproductive surgery/ 

endometriosis special interest group, as well as past president of 

the AAGL (2007 – 2008). He is included in Castle Connolly’s ninth 

edition of “America’s Top Doctors ® ,” a guide to the top 1 percent of 

specialists and subspecialists in the nation. He has been selected 

as one of Chicago’s TopTierMDs, an exclusive honor achieved by 

fewer than 3 percent of the nearly 6,000 physicians in the broader 

Chicago area.

Town Hall Meeting 

How Does It All Fit? 

Dr. Anthony C. Quartell will lead a town 

hall-style meeting to discuss several MIS topics 

confronting surgeons and their teams in the 

OR. The audience is encouraged to participate 

in this lively open forum. Be ready to discuss 

provocative questions around surgical teams 

and their impact on success and OR mistakes, 

as well as questions such as: How will OR 

Ready serve to reduce potential errors, and is it 

different than what already exists? 


FACOG, FACS 

Anthony C. Quartell, M.D. & Associates 

Dr. Anthony Quartell is an obstetrician/ 

gynecologist who has practiced at St. Barnabas 

Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. for more than 

30 years. He has held virtually every elected 

position in this medical center, the largest in New Jersey. 

Dr. Quartell presently serves as the director of minimally invasive 

gynecologic surgery at St. Barnabas, which was recently awarded 

“Academic Center of Excellence” in women’s health by AIMIS. 

Dr. Quartell lectures and teaches extensively on the subjects of 

minimally invasive and robotic pelvic surgery. He is routinely cited 

as a “best doctor” in multiple publications, both in New Jersey 

and the New York metropolitan area. Dr. Quartell has enjoyed an 

excellent relationship with several manufacturers of minimally 

invasive surgical equipment and received an award from Gynecare 

recognizing his contribution to the research and development of the 

Morcellex device. 

He is a highly sought-after expert in his field, in the board room, the 

court room, and of course, the operating room. Dr. Quartell became 

a member of the AIMIS clinical advisory board at its inception and in 

2011 was presented with an award for his contributions in minimally 

invasive surgery.

Lecture 

The OR READY Movement 

More than 230 million operations are performed 

worldwide each year. Experts estimate that 

by following a series of safety guidelines, 2-3 

percent (roughly 6 million patients) could have 

better surgical outcomes each year. When 

applied in the OR, these safety steps can and 

do reduce complication rates and improve 

outcomes for patients. 

Top centers, leading surgeons, nurses and 

OR teams in multiple specialties have adopted 

various forms of these steps, and have been 

reducing error rates by 40 percent and cutting 

death rates in half. Regrettably, many hospitals 

and surgeons have not yet instituted these 

good-outcome-producing principles. Our goal 

is to encourage worldwide use of the OR Ready 

steps in all hospitals within six years, thereby 

improving surgical outcomes around the world 

for 6 million patients annually. 




James C. “Butch” Rosser Jr., M.D., FACS 

is a surgeon, education and training 

expert, scientist, inventor, author, futurist, 

social advocate, television personality and 

trans-vertical policy consultant. He has given 

more than 350 invited lectures around the world and is immediate 

past president of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. 



Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons 

As one of the first surgeons to champion 

advanced laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Paul Alan 

Wetter brought together multiple surgical 

specialties to start a new type of medical 

multi-specialty society, the Society of 

Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, which has become the largest of its 

kind in the world with more than 6,000 active members. He has 

served as chairman since 1990. 

Dr. Wetter established the AsianAmerican and EuroAmerican MIS 

Summits. He is the co-founder of Medical Journal, JSLS, and he 

spearheaded the publication of the first-of-their-kind open-access, 

online medical textbooks, which have built-in language translation 

for worldwide utilization.

Lecture 

Building a Patient OR Safety Checklist from Scratch 

The outstanding safety performance record of the aerospace industry is influencing the healthcare arena in the form of checklists. 

Checklists have long been a mainstay in contributing to the current culture of safety that exists today. To date, their impact in 

healthcare has not been quantified. But it is clear that while generalized checklists may contribute to better patient outcomes, 

customized checklists potentially offer a greater margin of success. This interactive session will feature three physician experts on 

patient safety leading the group through the process of building a patient safety checklist. 


FACS, Director of Minimally Invasive General 

Surgery, Associate Professor of Surgery 

University of Central Florida Medical School 




Northwestern University Feinberg School 




Morehouse School of Medicine

Lecture 

Centers of Excellence: The Value 

Proposition of Technology 

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care 

Act of 2010 makes organizing and managing 

healthcare networks extremely critical. The 

establishment of the Center for Medicare and 

Medicaid Innovation within CMS, “Accountable 

Care Organizations” (ACOs), and Medicare 

Shared Savings Program to meet quality 

performance standards and payments for 

shared savings are already changing behavior 

in medicine and surgery. With the addition of 

the “meaningful use” of EHRs for improvements 

in care, providers and centers will need tools 

to collaborate for the best patient outcomes, to 

identify inefficiencies, to improve quality and to 

reduce costs. 

The use of medical and information technology, 

Health 2.0, is required and is the value 

proposition that will ultimately determine the 

success of the Centers of Excellence. 

Bernard A. Harris, Jr., M.D., MBA 

CEO & Managing Director, Vesalius Ventures, 

Inc., & Former NASA Astronaut, Mayo ‘85 

As CEO and managing director for Vesalius 

Ventures, Dr. Bernard Harris is responsible for 

managing the portfolio of private assets for 

early and later stage venture investments, and 

operating companies. Prior to Vesalius Ventures, 

he worked with Vanguard Ventures, a $500 million early-stage 

venture capital firm. 

Dr. Harris is president of the American Telemedicine Association, 

and founder and president of the Harris Foundation, which supports 

math and science education, health and wealth programs for 

America’s youth. He also holds several faculty appointments. 

A veteran astronaut for more than 20 years, he has logged more than 

438 hours and traveled more than 7.2 million miles in space. On his 

second flight, Dr. Harris conducted the first telemedicine conference 

from space with the Mayo Clinic. 

Dr. Harris earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Houston, 

a master of medical science from the University of Texas Medical 

Branch at Galveston, an MBA from the University of Houston, 

and a doctorate of medicine from Texas Tech University School 

of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the 

Mayo Clinic.

Lecture 

The Surgical Continuum 

As the use and variety of new techniques 

expands, so too does confusion regarding 

hysterectomy options. It may now be necessary 

to create alternative terminology that better 

reflects the level of abdominal intrusion, time 

requirements and correlation with outcomes 

including infection, scarring and patient 

satisfaction. Healthcare providers have a 

theoretical promise to offer patients the safest 

and most rapid surgical option that allows the 

best possible outcome. The surgical continuum 

is an attempt to classify and categorize 

the hysterectomy options according to 

these parameters. 


Chief of Gynecological Surgery 

Florida Hospital Celebration Health 

Dr. Steven McCarus, FACOG, is founder and 

director of the McCarus Surgical Specialist for 

Women and chief of the division of gynecologic 

surgery at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. 

A board certified gynecologist, he has trained 

thousands of gynecologic and general surgeons on laparoscopic 

procedures, has published several articles and has performed 

surgery all over the world. 

Earning his M.D. from Marshal University School of Medicine in 

Huntington, W.Va., Dr. McCarus completed his OB/GYN residency 

at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Baltimore, Md. He is an 

associate professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Lecture 

Stakeholder Forum – 

Visceral Reactions 

How do government, insurance, hospitals, legal, 

longer hours with less pay and less respect, 

political and healthcare turmoil make you feel? 

Are you excited and energized? Or are you are 

disappointed and frustrated? Who do you trust? 

Systems, policies and an uncertain future create 

legitimate angst and apprehension. 

In this session, we will discuss your 

expectations, plans and gut reactions as they 

relate to healthcare concerns today. Hold 

nothing back; enjoy this genuine environment 

and come away with practical tools for 

navigating the rocky terrain that surrounds you 

every day. 


Chief Medical Officer 


Dr. Douglas Ott is a practicing physician of 42 

years and a chief medical officer with Lexion 

Medical and Hemerus Medical. He is also an 

adjunct professor of biomedical engineering and 

business and economics at Mercer University. 

Holding 26 patents, Dr. Ott has authored more than 45 papers and 

textbook chapters, and given more than 350 invited lectures. He has 

received national and international awards for his work in minimally 

invasive surgery. Patient outcomes and physician awareness of their 

practices and application of basic science principles have driven 

his work.

Lecture 

Perspectives of Those Who Pay the 

Bills – What Do They Want and How 

Will They Get It? 

Come for an in-depth presentation addressing 

the following questions: 

• Who wants it? Why? Who buys it? 

• Does it save money? 

• What’s it worth? 

• Who’s the best? 

• What’s in it for me? 

• Now what? 


Vice President of Medical Affairs 


Dr. Jerry Reeves is principal of Health 

Innovations, LLC, offering health benefits 

design, wellness, medical director and 

health management services for health plan 

sponsors and employers in several states. He is vice president of 

medical affairs for HealthInsight, a private, nonprofit regional health 

improvement organization serving plans, purchasers, providers 

and the public in Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. He is director 

of community health innovations for the Center for Health Value 

Innovation, and director of the business advisory board for AIMIS. 

Dr. Reeves previously served as chief medical officer of Hotel 

Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HEREIU) 

Welfare Funds, CEO and chairman of WorldDoc Inc., chief medical 

officer of Humana Inc. and Sierra Health Services Inc., and as 

chief of clinical medicine at USAF Headquarters in Europe. He 

served two terms on the Board of Health of the State of Nevada 

and as associate dean, Managed Care, for University of Nevada 

School of Medicine. He is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric 

hematology-oncology, and in medical management. He has authored 

more than 50 publications, been an editor for three professional 

journals, and served on the faculty of three medical schools.

Lectures 

Healthcare Reform: What’s in the 

2,400-Page Document? 

Frequently, when experiencing an extreme 

change in culture, fear is generated by 

the unknown. If the concept of healthcare 

reform is not intimidating enough, the fact 

that it is shrouded within the boundaries of a 

congressional document that is 2,400 pages 

long does not help matters. This presentation 

will systematically dissect highlights found in 

the congressional mandate. The first step in 

eradicating fear is eliminating the unknown. 

The Performance Challenged 

Surgeon: The Problem and the One 

Possible Solution 

A significant number of patient deaths occur 

because surgeons demonstrate less than 

optimum performance in skill, judgment and 

cognition. To eliminate a poorly performing 

surgeon from the workforce is not necessarily 

the answer. This lecture will review an innovative 

program called Project Lantern, a one-week 

intense “boot camp” that returns a competent 

surgeon home to serve their community. 




Dr. James C. “Butch” Rosser Jr., FACS is a 

surgeon, education and training expert, scientist, 

inventor, author, futurist, social advocate, television 

personality and trans-vertical policy consultant. 

Dr. Rosser has given more than 350 invited lectures around the world, 

written more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, more than 16 chapters in 

books currently in print, and 11 digital books. He holds two patents and 

several products and appliances have been developed to his credit. 

He is immediate past president of the Society of Laparoendoscopic 

Surgeons and the author of the recently released book, “Playin’ 

to Win: A Surgeon, Scientist and Parent Examines the Upside of 

Video Games.” 

For his efforts, Dr. Rosser has received numerous recognitions and 

awards, including keys to many cities, citations by several state 

legislatures, three Smithsonian awards for technical achievements in 

medicine, the NAACP Living Legend Award in medicine, the National 

Mentoring Award, the SAGES Gerald Marks Lifetime Achievement 

Award, Society of Laparoscopic Surgeons EXCEL awards, and many 

others. Dr. Rosser has held academic appointments previously at 

Yale University School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of 

Medicine. He is currently professor of surgery at the Morehouse School 

of Medicine, director of the nonprofit Modern Day Miracle, and the CEO 

of the Stealth Learning Company.

Lecture 

Tales from the Dark Side: Real World 

OR Experiences 

Dr. Vazquez invites you to join him and an 

enthusiastic expert faculty for a session 

that explores the consequences of applying 

Murphy’s Law to the surgical checklist. 

Session discovery topics: 

• Case presentations demonstrating 

checklist failures 

• Analyzing the causes of the errors that led 

to failure 

• Suggestions for process improvement 




Northwestern University Feinberg School 


Dr. Richard M. Vazquez is a private practice 

general surgeon and geographical fulltime 

faculty member (Assistant Clinical Professor 

of Surgery) at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern 

University. He attended medical school (1969) and post graduate 

bioengineering at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Dr. Vazquez 

completed his general surgical residency in 1974 at Rush PSLH 

in Chicago. He divides his clinical practice between general 

surgery and phlebology. He is certified by the ARDMS (RVT, RPVI) 

vascular ultrasound. 

His professional special interests include minimally invasive general 

surgery and phlebology procedures and patient safety. He is also 

the director of medical affairs Soft Tissue Sciences/PSD (PolyPro ® 

Hydrocoat Hernia Mesh).

Lecture 

Medical Malpractice: What Physicians 

Can Do to Help Themselves 

Health care does have a public component 

because it is a fundamental service that should 

be provided, but the legal system was devised 

to limit the ability of government to intervene 

in essentially private affairs. The malpractice 

system performs reasonably well in separating 

claims without merit from those with merit and 

compensating the latter. 

Moves to combat frivolous litigation will 

have a limited effect on total costs of the 

medical malpractice process. In many cases, 

these efforts actually increase the cost of 

managing claims. 

Substantial savings depend on reforms that 

improve the system’s efficiency in handling 

claims, and improvements to the risk 

management function to increase patient safety. 

Join Steven Yerrid in a discussion about the 

role of medical malpractice and tort reform 

in providing accountability in the delivery of 

healthcare services in the United States. 

Steven Yerrid 

Attorney 

Yerrid Law Firm 

Steve Yerrid is president of The Yerrid Law 

Firm in Tampa. The firm specializes in personal 

injury, wrongful death, products liability and 

medical malpractice. 

Yerrid graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1975. 

He is admitted to the Bars of the United States Supreme Court, 

United States Court of Appeals of the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the 

United States District Courts of the Southern and Middle Districts 

of Florida, and the State Bars of Florida, Virginia and the District 

of Columbia. 

Yerrid is a member of the Florida Justice Association, the American 

Association of Justice, the American Board of Trial Advocates, 

the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association, and the Inner Circle of 

Advocates, an invitation-only organization consisting of the best 

100 plaintiff’s trial lawyers in the country. Yerrid has been a Florida 

Bar Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and certified as a Civil Trial 

Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy for more than 

25 years.

The Multispecialty Surgical Center of Excellence Movement: 

Empowering Outcomes Through Preparation, Transparency and Accountability

Presented by: 

The American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery

2012 AIMIS Summit - American Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery

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