The American Hospital Quest for Quality Prize

Improving the quality and safety of health care requires dedicated leadership and the involvement of everyone who affects care within an organization, from trustees and administrators to physicians, nurses and frontline staff. To honor organizations that have made exceptional improvements in quality and patient safety, the American Hospital Association, along with McKesson Corp. and McKesson Foundation, established The American Hospital Quest for Quality Prize: honoring leadership and innovation in patient care quality, safety and commitment. The award recognizes hospitals and health systems that have created measurable and sustainable quality and patient safety programs. Among other things, the organization must have a blame-free work environment and systems in place to help identify actual and potential adverse events and solutions to improve them. As the winner of the inaugural Quest for Quality Prize, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Town and Country, Mo., received $75,000 to further its safety and quality efforts. Two finalists--Children's Hospitals and Clinics, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., and Fairview Hospital, Great Barrington, Mass.--each received a $12,500 award. A Citation of Merit was presented to Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.