NCQA HONORS HEALTH QUALITY LEADERS, CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF IMPROVING HEALTH CARE QUALITY

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to be the keynote speaker at March 23 awards dinner

WASHINGTON – Karen Davis, President of The Commonwealth Fund, Vermont Governor James H. Douglas, international patient safety leader Dr. Peter Pronovost, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, and three Louisiana organizations that improved primary care systems in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina are being honored by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) with Health Quality Awards. The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who received the NCQA Health Quality Award in 2007, will provide the keynote address. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Washington, DC on March 23.

“I congratulate these award winners and thank them for their important contributions to our nation’s health care system,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Along with bringing down costs and increasing access, improving the quality of care is a key part of strengthening our health care system so that it works better for American families.”

“The people and groups NCQA is honoring with Health Quality Awards are making the health care system better for millions of people,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “They are among the most creative and effective leaders working to improve health care quality in America.” 

Each year, NCQA presents Health Quality Awards to individuals and organizations that highlight the need for — and drive — health care improvement. Past recipients include Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, actress and advocate Mary Tyler Moore and The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

NCQA’s 2010 Health Quality Award honorees are:

• Karen Davis – Davis is the president of The Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy engaged in independent research on health and social policy issues. She is a nationally recognized economist and advocate for an affordable, high-performance health care system for all Americans. 
• Governor James H. Douglas (R-Vermont) – Governor Douglas launched in 2003 the Blueprint for Health to transform Vermont’s health care system through a focus on chronic disease prevention and management resources. He signed a comprehensive package of health reforms in 2006 designed to expand access to coverage, improve the quality and performance of the health care system and contain costs.
• Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD – Pronovost is a practicing anesthesiologist and teacher, researcher, critical care physician and international patient safety leader. He is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. In 2001, he developed a checklist to address line infection, a common complication that may occur when a catheter is inserted into the body.  The checklist is credited with saving at least 1,800 lives and $200 million dollars each year.  
• The Greater New Orleans Community Organizations, the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum and the Louisiana Public Health Institute are being recognized for their work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to develop and implement a community-based care network focused on primary care and integrated behavioral health for residents of New Orleans.
• Governor Edward Rendell (D-Pennsylvania) – Governor Rendell is currently serving his second term as Pennsylvania’s 45th Governor. In 2007, he launched Prescription for Pennsylvania, a multi-pronged effort designed to improve the health care of all Pennsylvanians by making care more efficient and cost-effective. This initiative includes the nation’s largest demonstration of the Patient-Centered Medical Home collaborative.

Ian Morrison, internationally known author, consultant and futurist is serving as the master of ceremonies for the March 23 event. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ncqa.org.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010, NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance.  NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.

# # #