“Information technology is one of the keys to improving patient safety, quality of care, and physician performance in this critical era for hospital-based medicine.”
David L. Reich, MD
Horace W. Goldsmith Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology
David L.Reich, MD, is an internationally known anesthesiologist specializing in cardiothoracic anesthesia and the emerging field of medical informatics. He is chief of anesthesia services at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens, and the City Hospital Center at Elmhurst Hospital Center and is academic chair for approximately 200 faculty and anesthesia trainees.
An active researcher, Dr. Reich conducts investigations on topics ranging from neuropsychological outcomes following thoracic aortic surgery to outcome effects of intraoperative hemodynamics and hemodynamic monitoring. He has published extensively in the field of cardiac and thoracic anesthesiology and was among the first to demonstrate the benefit of using of electronic medical records for large-scale retrospective investigations examining the association of intraoperative hemodynamic abnormalities with adverse postoperative outcomes. His research regarding neuropsychological outcomes following thoracic aortic surgery has influenced the development of newer surgical approaches to brain protection.
Dr. Reich is also active in the emerging field of medical informatics. He is a member of the International Organization for Terminology in Anesthesia of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, and he works with that group and the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization to develop worldwide standards for anesthesia terminology for electronic patient records. His continuing research in this area demonstrates the uses of electronic patient records for outcomes research, enhancing quality of patient care, and practice management. At Mount Sinai, he is using informatics to identify patients who require more intensive pain management during hospitalization.
Dr. Reich has participated in several humanitarian missions to deliver medical care to children in China, Russia, and Romania. He also is involved with several national and international professional societies, and he recently completed a term on the Board of Directors of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. He is an associate editor of the definitive textbook Cardiac Anesthesia, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Seminars in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, and frequently reviews articles for medical journals. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, over 30 chapters, and he has a monitoring textbook in publication.
Mount Sinai acknowledged his significant contributions, presenting him with the Award for Achievement and the Dripps Memorial Award in 1986, the Residents' Research Award in 1987, and the Attendings' Research Award in 1990.
Dr. Reich earned his medical degree at Philadelphia's Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in 1982, followed by a two-year general surgery residency at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He came to New York to complete a residency in anesthesiology at Mount Sinai, serving the final year as Chief Resident. Dr. Reich remained at Mount Sinai to pursue a cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship. In 1987, he joined the Mount Sinai faculty, and three years later, he became Co-Director of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, a position in which he supervised a team of cardiothoracic anesthesiologists at Mount Sinai Heart. Dr. Reich was named Horace W. Goldsmith Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology in 2004.