First in Safety and Quality

Take best practices from two industries focused on safety and reliability—nuclear power and aviation—mix in specialized safety training for all hospital staff, use common-cause and root-cause analyses and enhance with lessons and stories from front-line staff—then combine all to produce a safety-first, high-reliability health care organization. These elements are part of the “Safety First, Every Day” program at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, in Richmond, this year's American Hospital Association–McKesson Quest for Quality Prize recipient. Working to build the safest health care organization possible, the hospital's employees report and post safety events and infection rates in units, and share stories and lessons learned organizationwide.

The medical center has reduced serious safety events by 50 percent, reduced falls with injury by 83 percent and decreased health care-associated infections in intensive care units by 88 percent. In addition to safety, VCU Medical Center focuses on the IOM aims of timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, equity and patient-centeredness. For example, VCU Medical Center has created programs to ensure equitable care for all patients, provide multidisciplinary care teams for patients with complex health conditions, and improve care and increase patient and family engagement for children with behavioral health issues. The finalist for this year's Quest for Quality Prize is Carolinas Medical Center–NorthEast in Concord, N.C. Organizations receiving citations of merit are Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Medical Center in Charleston; Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis; and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison.

HPOE will be holding two informational webinars highlighting the great work of the Quest for Quality 2014 recipients.

The 2015 award submissions period has closed. Please visit other HPOE resources on the Quest for Quality award.