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Research Highlights
VA Recognized for Patient Safety Programs
Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated October 4, 2002
The National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) have announced the first recipients of the annual John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety Awards and VA received two of the national awards.
The VA National Center for Patient Safety in Ann Arbor, Mich., was a co-winner in the category of System Innovation for leadership in developing and implementing a systems approach to error reduction within VHA’s 163 hospitals.
In the category of Advocacy, the Lexington, Ky., VA Medical Center was singled out for its national leadership in openly, and voluntarily, disclosing health care errors to harmed individuals and/or their families.
Eighty-eight nominations were received for the 2002 inaugural awards, which were presented at the National Quality Forum’s Third Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on October 1, 2002.
"We are very pleased to recognize these outstanding leaders for the work they have done to improve patient safety," said Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.Ph., president and chief executive officer, NQF, and former VA Under Secretary for Health. "These individuals and organizations exemplify the organization’s passion for making health care better—both safer and of higher quality. Their work provides an enduring legacy to John M. Eisenberg."
The new patient safety awards program honors John M. Eisenberg, M.D, M.B.A., who was administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the time of his death in March of 2002. Eisenberg was also one of the founding leaders of the National Quality Forum and sat on its Board of Directors. In his roles both as AHRQ administrator and chair of the federal government’s Quality Inter-Agency Council, he was a passionate advocate for patient safety and personally led AHRQ’s new grant program to support patient safety research.
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