Jessica H Colyer, MD

Jessica H Colyer, MD

Cardiology

On staff since August 2020

Children's Title: Director, Inpatient Cardiology

Academic Title: Associate Professor, Pediatrics

"I have focused my career in caring for the hospitalized child with heart disease. Children are amazingly resilient and watching their recovery from surgery or an acute illness inspires me every day to think differently about our care models and how to improve every patient's experience. The inpatient setting is scary and stressful for patients and families. By creating a dedicated inpatient team, we are better able to personalize and standardize care to each patient. This allows us to improve our care models and partner with families and patients to deliver the best care. We work toward creating seamless transitions within the hospital system and out to our community physicians to resume outpatient care for our vulnerable patients. I am grateful every day for the opportunity and privilege to care for our patients and to hopefully make their visit to the hospital the healthiest and best experience possible."

  • Biography

    Director of Inpatient Cardiology
     
    I only take care of patients within the inpatient setting. It is very important to me that we have a team approach to care, with a team that includes the patient and the family. I focus on Quality Improvement initiatives because I feel like we can always make small tests of change and it requires us to have a broader picture of system's think to improve the care of each patient. I love my team and I love our amazing patients who have this amazing ability to thrive despite significant disease. I love the opportunity to make changes to continuously improve how we deliver care. My team is dedicated to taking care of patients and who challenge me to always do better. I love the physiology of heart disease and how understanding how the heart works enables us to make kids better. I love how the field is constantly evolving and that we are able to take care of such sick kids and allow them to thrive.

    As a parent, I know the stress of sitting up all night when my kid is sick, and so I try very hard to discharge patients when I know the family will also be able to sleep through the night after discharge and not continued to be worried. My brother had Hodgkin's disease as an adolescent. I saw the important relationship my parents had with his oncologist and how she was able to provide more than just the medical aspect of care to our family. I have 3 children, and love all sports: watching professional Seattle sports teams, going to my kids' games. I love the ocean and fishing on the ocean. I grew up in New Jersey and will always be a Jersey girl, and I love to follow Bruce Springsteen around on tour.

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  • Publications

    Other Publications

    • Horner C, Chan T, Yip C, Parikh SR, Johnson K, Fridgen J, Rudberg K, Bhat AH, Colyer J
      Improving Timeliness of Vocal Fold Mechanical Injury Screening Following Norwood or Arch Reconstruction: A Quality Improvement Initiative at a Single Center.
      36527473 Pediatric cardiology, 2023 Feb. : 44(2)388-395
    • Gal DB, Clyde CO, Colvin EL, Colyer J, Ferris AM, Figueroa MI, Hills BK, Lagergren SM, Mangum J, Mann JL, McKeta AS, Patel SS, Reeves JF, Richter M, Ring LM, Rosenblum JM, Tindel K, Weiner JG, Williams KG, Zabala LM, Madsen NL
      Management of routine postoperative pain for children undergoing cardiac surgery: a Paediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative Clinical Practice Guideline.
      36382361 Cardiology in the young, 2022 Dec. : 32(12)1881-1893
    • Colyer J, Ring L, Gallagher S, Mullenholz M, Robison J, Rigney-Radford K, Harahsheh AS
      Quality Improvement Initiative Increasing Early Discharges From an Acute Care Cardiology Unit for Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology Patients-Associated With Reduced Hospital Length of Stay.
      35928019 Pediatric quality & safety, 2022 July : 7(4)e587 PMCID:PMC9345632
    • Schauer J, Buddhe S, Gulhane A, Sagiv E, Studer M, Colyer J, Chikkabyrappa SM, Law Y, Portman MA
      Persistent Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in a Cohort of Adolescents with Post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 mRNA Vaccine Myopericarditis.
      35351530 The Journal of pediatrics, 2022 June : 245233-237 PMCID:PMC8957353
    • Selamet Tierney ES, Runeckles K, Tremoulet AH, Dahdah N, Portman MA, Mackie AS, Harahsheh AS, Lang SM, Choueiter NF, Li JS, Manlhiot C, Low T, Mathew M, Friedman KG, Raghuveer G, Norozi K, Szmuszkovicz JR, McCrindle BW, International Kawasaki Disease Registry
      Variation in Pharmacologic Management of Patients with Kawasaki Disease with Coronary Artery Aneurysms.
      34474088 The Journal of pediatrics, 2022 Jan. : 240164-170.e1
    • Schauer J, Buddhe S, Colyer J, Sagiv E, Law Y, Mallenahalli Chikkabyrappa S, Portman MA
      Myopericarditis After the Pfizer Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Coronavirus Disease Vaccine in Adolescents.
      34228985 The Journal of pediatrics, 2021 Nov. : 238317-320 PMCID:PMC8253718
    • Voleti S, Adelbai M, Hovis I, Colyer J, Burns KM, Lewis EO, Arurang JK, Kikuharu A, Gonzales M, Pedro SJ, Zimmerman M, Krishnan A, Beaton A, Sable C, Dougherty S
      Novel handheld ultrasound technology to enhance non-expert screening for rheumatic heart disease in the Republic of Palau: A descriptive study.
      33624369 Journal of paediatrics and child health, 2021 July : 57(7)1089-1095
    • Dean NP, Ghebremariam E, Szeles R, Levin A, Colyer J, Steinhorn RH
      Late Rescue Collaborative: Reducing Non-ICU Arrests.
      31851129 Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, 2020 June : 21(6)513-519
    • Kulesa JT, Balsara SL, Ghebremariam ET, Colyer J
      Designing a Process for Cardiology Patient Transfers: A Quality Improvement, Descriptive Study on Interprovider Communication and Resident Education.
      32656468 Pediatric quality & safety, 2020 May : 5(3)e300 PMCID:PMC7297395

Overview

Board Certification(s)

Pediatrics
Pediatric Cardiology

Medical/Professional School

George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA

Residency

Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC

Fellowship

Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC

Clinical Interests

Inpatient Cardiology, inpatient care of the single ventricle patient, post operative pain reduction, discharge efficiency, patient and family experience, and transitions of care.

Research Description
Through multiple Quality Improvement Initiatives and supported through the Quality Macrosystem, the inpatient team works to improve care during an inpatient stay. This includes reducing hospital acquired conditions and improving the patient experience. Seattle Children's Heart Center partners with the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) on national collaborative projects. We focus on improving length of stay and discharge efficiency.