Dr. Michael Chang ensures quality care for trauma patients across the country

Dr. Michael Chang, chief medical officer for USA Health, plays a vital role in how patients with life-threatening injuries are cared for at trauma centers along the Gulf Coast and across the United States.

Dr. Chang serves as chairman of the Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) at the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, and is a recognized national expert in quality assessment and performance improvement.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The ACS is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery.

This fall, Dr. Chang will lead a national meeting of the Trauma Quality Improvement Program in Dallas where more than 1,800 healthcare providers from across the United States will gather for continuing education on treating patients with traumatic injuries.

Fellowship-trained in critical care and trauma surgery, Dr. Chang’s national leadership role with the Trauma Quality Improvement Program also means he is responsible for visiting and assessing trauma centers across the nation. “I make sure patients get the highest quality care possible,” he said. “That includes identifying best practices for the care of injured patients and sharing the processes to make that possible.”

Back in Mobile, Dr. Chang works with division leaders across USA Health’s 3,900-employee system that includes USA Health University Hospital, USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and USA Health Physicians Group to ensure quality, safety and efficiency of care to all patients.

In September 2018, Chang was named chief medical officer for USA Health, associate vice president for medical affairs and professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. Previously, he served as chief medical officer for Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and chief quality officer for the Wake Forest Baptist Health System in Winston-Salem, N.C. He also served as a professor of surgery at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.