Philip Greilich, M.D.

Biography

Philip Greilich, M.D., M.Sc., is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management and the Director of Team FIRST at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in cardiovascular anesthesiology, blood conservation in cardiac surgery, and implementation and dissemination of teamwork skills within academic medical centers.

Dr. Greilich earned his medical degree at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He completed a residency in anesthesiology and a fellowship in cardiothoracic anesthesiology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, where he was Chief Resident. He also earned a master’s degree in health care leadership and management for physician executives at The University of Texas at Dallas.

Certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and the National Board of Echocardiography, he joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1995, following his military service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Greilich has served in multiple clinical and educational leadership roles at UT Southwestern, including as Health System Quality Officer for the Office of the Vice President for Health System Affairs. As Director for the Quality Enhancement Plan – Team FIRST for the Office of Medical Education, he helps students develop team-based communication and care coordination. Nationally, he is also Founding Chair of the Perioperative Multi-Center Handoff Collaborative, a special interest group of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.

His interests include blood conservation in cardiac surgery, and he researches innovative blood transfusion therapies. He also researches health system science — particularly the impact of teaming on clinician, patient, and organizational outcomes. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, among others.

He is involved in several grant projects, including serving as Principal Investigator for an AHRQ-funded study on handoff effectiveness research in perioperative environments. He recently was Guest Editor for a special issue on “Perioperative Handoff Safety and Quality” for The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety and serves on several advisory panels within his areas of expertise.

Dr. Greilich has delivered invited lectures internationally and nationally, contributed to several books, including Complications in Anesthesia, and published numerous academic articles related to his areas of expertise.

He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Society of Echocardiography. He is a member of numerous other professional organizations, including the American Society of Hematology, the Association of University Anesthesiologists, and the International Anesthesia Research Society.

Personal Note

When he’s not at work, Dr. Greilich enjoys traveling and hiking the national parks.