Barbara M. Balik, EdD, MS, RN, is Principal, Common Fire Healthcare Consulting. Her current areas of expertise include leadership and systems for a culture of quality and safety, including patient- and family-centered care, patient experience, systems to improve transitions in care, and transforming care through electronic health record implementation and optimization.  Ms. Balik has given numerous national presentations on patient safety, integrating patient safety as an essential organizational strategy with links to patient experience, clinical quality and financial vitality.

Ms. Balik’s most recent publications on health care leadership and patient safety include “Leaders’ Role in Patient Experience” (Healthcare Executive, 2011), Achieving an Exceptional Patient and Family Experience of Impatient Hospital Care (IHI Innovation Series White Paper, 2011), “What Makes a Positive Patient Experience?” (Patient Safety Monitor, 2011), The Heart of Leadership: Inspiration and Practical Guidance for Transforming Your Health Care Organization (2010), and “10 years after To Err is Human: Are We Listening to Patients and Families Yet?” (National Patient Safety Foundation, 2010).

Ms. Balik has served in leadership roles including Executive VP of Quality, Safety and Technology, Hospital and Clinic CEO, VP of Patient Care/CNO, and System CNO Council Chair. She is a senior faculty member at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and serves as a member of the Board of Governors at the National Patient Safety Foundation, the Board Quality Committee at Presbyterian Health System, and the Research and Education Foundation Board of Association of Health System Pharmacists.

Ms. Balik completed her BS and MS in nursing and a doctorate in educational leadership.