Qualis Health will present Awards of Excellence in Healthcare Quality at the 2008 Northwest Patient Safety Conference on June 12, 2008 at the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center. For more information and to register for the conference, please visit the Washington Patient Safety Coalition website.

Since 2003, Qualis Health has granted the Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality to outstanding organizations in Washington state. Winners have demonstrated leadership and innovation in improving healthcare practices—reflecting the very best in healthcare quality improvement.

These awards are given to organizations demonstrating excellence—and measurable improvements—in areas such as:

• Clinical processes
• Organizational efficiencies that improve care
• Utilization management/coding
• Information technology-driven healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety, including but not limited to topics described by the National Patient Safety Goals and the 5 Million Lives Campaign. For more information, please refer to the following websites: 

National Patient Safety Goals
5 Million Lives Campaign
National Quality Forum

If you believe your organization has demonstrated leadership in any of these areas, you are invited to apply for the Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality. 

Learn about the previous winners.

Award Criteria
Urban and rural hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, physician offices and clinics, and other organizations such as health plans and community agencies are eligible to enter. Nominees must have facilities or operations in Washington state.

The award recognizes accomplishments that result in long-term and lasting changes for the public good. Entries should describe how your organization implemented system or process changes, based on collected data, that made measurable improvements in care in the most recent calendar year. Particularly strong candidates would demonstrate innovations in the methods used to collect or apply the data, or in the means by which the system or process changes were made.

An awards committee comprised of representatives of professional healthcare organizations will judge the nominations.

(Please note, winners from the previous year are ineligible for the current awards.)