Submissions wanted for 2008 patient safety award
Recognizes excellence in quality of care and patient safety
Friday June 13, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
Hospitals and healthcare organizations across the country are encouraged to submit their patient safety and quality improvement initiatives for a chance to win the 2008 Canadian Healthcare Excellence in Quality Award (CHEQA).

The third annual award, which includes a cash prize of $15,000, recognizes excellence in quality of care and patient safety. It is sponsored by rL Solutions, a provider of risk management, patient feedback and claims and infection control software, and the Quality Healthcare Network (QHN).

The award is open to any healthcare organization in Canada providing service in a number of settings including acute care, long-term care, rehabilitation, mental health, complex continuing care and community care.

“We hope CHEQA will encourage organizations of all sizes to submit their initiatives and to share their success stories,” said Sanjay Malaviya, president and CEO of rL Solutions, in a news release.

“We would like to wish all those taking part the best of luck in vying for this year’s award.”

Of the five finalists for the 2007 award, which was presented last October at the Halifax 7 Healthcare Safety Symposium, four are Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) subscribers. These include Toronto East General Hospital, St. John’s Rehab Hospital, Trillium Health Centre and The Credit Valley Hospital.

The winner of the award, as voted online by Quality Healthcare Network (QHN) members, was Toronto East General Hospital for reducing the length of time a patient with lung cancer waits for treatment as part of its Time to Treat program.

Through the Time to Treat program, overall time from suspicious X-ray to diagnosis was reduced from 127.8 days to 30.8 days, a 71 per cent reduction. The majority of physicians (from 70 to 100 per cent) rated the treatment processes as better or significantly better as a result of the system redesign.

The winner of the 2008 award will be announced in October. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 8.

For more information on CHEQA and to apply for the award, visit www.rl-solutions.com.

Follow the links below for stories of HIROC subscribers who were named as finalists for the 2007 award.

Toronto hospital wins 2007 quality award

Rehab hospital recognized for work in wound care

Hospital reduces ED wait times

System change results in fewer falls and expenses

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