Biography
Dr. Hemmila is a Professor in the Section of General Surgery within the Department of Surgery. He serves as the Director of the Michigan Trauma Quality Improvement Program (MTQIP), which is a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) sponsored collaborative quality initiative. MTQIP is housed within the Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Hemmila received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester-Rochester, NY in 1985. Postgraduate study in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering was performed at Columbia University-NYC, NY. Dr. Hemmila graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1994 and from General Surgery residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center in 2001. He is board certified in the specialties of Surgery and Surgical Critical Care and serves as an attending faculty member on the Acute Care Surgery Service at the University of Michigan.
Since 2004, Dr. Hemmila has been involved in the creation and conduct of regional and national trauma quality improvement efforts. He is a founder of the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (ACS-TQIP). Currently, he serves as chairman of the ACS-TQIP collaborative workgroup. Dr. Hemmila created MTQIP to focus on regional collaborative improvement for trauma. MTQIP consists of 29 level 1 and 2 trauma centers in Michigan sharing data and partnering to achieve efficiency and value while delivering high quality care to trauma patients at a statewide level. MTQIP was funded by the BCBSM Foundation as a pilot project from 2008 to 2010. BCBSM formalized this CQI in January of 2011.
As a scientist at the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy (CHOP) at the University of Michigan, Dr. Hemmila's current research focuses on outcomes for patients in the area of Acute Care Surgery (Trauma, Emergent General Surgery, and Critical Care). He mentors undergraduates, medical students, residents and fellows engaged in comparative effectiveness research.