Fred E. Shapiro, DO, FASA is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, Massachusetts. He has extensive research publication experience and a reputation nationally and internationally in the field of patient safety in anesthesia and surgery performed outside the operating room.
He created the first Harvard Medical School Office Based Anesthesia (OBA) continuing medical education (CME) course, “The Manual of Office Based Anesthesia Procedures,” presented to the Academy at Harvard Medical School, which led to inception of an OBA curriculum. It was incorporated into the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA) national program. He was co-director for the first and second SAMBA OBA Virtual Symposia and wrote the seminal American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) CME article on Office Based Anesthesia: Safety and Outcomes.
He participated in The Massachusetts Board of Medicine task force to define qualifications for practitioners supervising office-based procedures and surgery, recently revised the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) Office Based Surgery Guidelines, and acts as a resource to ASA governance regarding similar statewide national legislative changes. He was appointed as advisor to the MMS Committee on Quality of Medical Practice.
In 2009, he co-founded The Institute for Safety in Office Based Surgery, an independent, multidisciplinary, non-profit organization to promote patient safety in office-based surgery through scholarship and patient and physician education.
In 2017, he co-founded The Incubator for Patient Safety & Outcomes (IPSO). The institute’s mission is to empower patients with patient safety through innovative research, strategic partnerships, and patient safety outreach tools.
As immediate past Chair of the ASA Committee on Patient Safety and Education (CPSE), he lead projects to improve patient safety, satisfaction, and outcomes through the development of patient and practitioner educational tools. He also edited a special edition publication from the ASA CPSE members, Emerging concepts in Patient Safety, in International Anesthesia Clinics. In 2018-19 he represented the ASA as an invited patient safety expert lecturer at the Korean, Japanese, and Hong Kong Society of Anesthesiologists annual meetings.
He is the Past President of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists and Suffolk District of the MMS. Additionally, he represents the anesthesiology profession in the MMS Interspecialty Committee, Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts, and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare credentialing and peer review committees. He participates in the Harvard Medical School interprofessional curriculum incorporating quality and safety projects from surgical, anesthesiology, and nursing specialties.
He was appointed to the SAMBA Board of Directors, is Co-Chair SAMBA OBA Committee, and is a member of the Education, Ophthalmology, Clinical Guidelines Committees. He is also a member of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Patient Safety Advisory Committee on Non-Operating Room Anesthesia. He was nominated for the 2020 and 2021 Excellence in Mentoring Awards given by Harvard Medical School.
Recent Publications
Young S, Osman BM, Urman RD, Shapiro FE. Patients, Procedures, and PPE: Safe Office-Based Anesthesia Recommendations in the COVID-19 Era. Best Prac Research Clin Anaesthesiol. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.11.006
Macias A, Shapiro FE. A 20/20 view of ophthalmic anesthesia: a reflective lends aimed to envision the future. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter. 2021;36(3);101-04.
Young S, Pollard RJ, Shapiro FE. Pushing the envelope: new patients, procedures, and personal protective equipment in the ambulatory surgical center for the COVID-19 era. Adv Anesth. 2021;39:97-112.
Pollard RJ, Shapiro FE. Does choice of anesthesia affect surgery? Evidence-based Practice of Anesthesiology. By Lee A. Fleisher, M.D. Philadelphia, Saunders, 2022. In press.