Dr. Penzi, in his role as executive vice president and chief medical officer of North American Partners in Anesthesia, has played a pivotal role in advancing patient safety and quality initiatives. Under his leadership, NAPA created the NAPA Anesthesia Patient Safety Institute, one of only 115 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-approved patient safety organizations in the U.S., and developed the anesthesia risk alerts program, which won the prestigious “Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award” from The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum in 2022 and the Advancing Health Care Risk Management “Patient Safety Award” in 2023. In 2024, Dr. Penzi’s team developed a CMS-approved quality measure to reduce pulmonary aspiration in high-risk anesthesia patients, making it eligible for the 2025 quality payment program. Dr. Penzi also enhanced patient experience efforts, launching a new feedback tool that increased survey response rates from 12% to over 23%, with a 97% positive patient satisfaction score from over 1 million patients.
