What

The 2007 Health Quality Awards Dinner will bring together many diverse stakeholders who have demonstrated a commitment to making quality health care for all Americans a priority, and it will honor key supporters and others whose dedication to quality health care has helped advance NCQA’s mission. 

Former recipients have included:

2005

• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
• The Honorable Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House and Founder, The Center for Health Transformation
• Brent James, MD, Mstat, VP for Medical Research and Executive Director, Intermountain Health Care
• Mary Tyler Moore, International Chairman, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Professor, New York University 

2003

• The Honorable John Breaux (D-LA)
• The Honorable Nancy Johnson (R-CT)
• The Honorable Paul H. O'Neill, Former Secretary of the Treasury
• Harvey Picker, Founder, The Picker Institute
• John E. Wennberg, MD, MPH, Dartmouth Medical School 

2001

• The Honorable Nancy Kassebaum Baker
• David Satcher, MD, PhD, Surgeon General of the United States
• Robert Brook, MD, Vice President, RAND and Director, RAND Health
• Mr. Gail Warden, President and CEO, Henry Ford Health System

When/Where

Thursday March 15, 2007, Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Washington D.C.

Honorees

• Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) 
• The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of the State of Kansas
• Edward H. Wagner, M.D., M.P.H., Director, The MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at Group Health Cooperative
• Let’s Go Play Go Healthy Challenge

Honorary Co-Chairs

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Honorable Newt Gingrich
 
Master of Ceremonies

Dr. Robert Bazell, NBC News' Chief Science and Health Correspondent
 
Why

The mission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance is to improve the quality of health care.

NCQA was established in 1990 in response to a growing need for an independent organization to evaluate health care quality and provide accurate, reliable data in order to drive quality improvement in the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, NCQA has evolved into the nation’s most trusted source of objective information for employers and consumers on the quality of health plans and physicians.

NCQA’s reputation as an objective, reliable source of information is based on its widely used accreditation and certification programs, which are regarded as the gold standard in health care oversight. NCQA is also the developer of the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS®), a set of more than 60 clinical performance measures that supports quality improvement within health plans and allows employers, consumers and regulators to make valid side-by-side comparisons between plans.

NCQA also co-developed and operates the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program with the American Diabetes Association and the Heart/Stroke Recognition Program with the American Heart/Stroke Association. These physician-level programs promote use of evidence-based guidelines to improve patient care, and to reward physicians with recognition for providing high quality diabetes and cardiovascular care.