The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) has announced the winners of the Kershner QI Award during a virtual award ceremony, shining a spotlight on health care organizations across the country for their exemplary quality improvement (QI) studies.
Named in honor of the late Bernard A. Kershner, a leader in ambulatory health care and distinguished past chair of the AAAHC Institute Board of Trustees, this award program recognizes AAAHC-accredited organizations that successfully implemented meaningful changes in their operations to boost quality of care, patient safety and overall efficiency through QI. Primary care and surgical/procedural organizations submitted detailed descriptions of completed QI studies for consideration, and an expert panel identified finalists in each category.
Jason Kershner, son of the late Bernard A. Kershner, paid tribute to his father’s pioneering efforts in ambulatory health care and contributions to the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement. The event also featured highlights from past winners and this year’s finalists discussing their successful QI programs.
In addition, AAAHC leadership offered an exclusive, “first glance” at the 2021 AAAHC Quality Roadmap, which examines accredited organization compliance ratings for current AAAHC Standards based on onsite surveys conducted in 2020. The annual report serves as a primer for identifying policies, procedures and practices that warrant attention. Organizations may use the report as they pursue ongoing QI throughout the accreditation period and consider award submissions for next year.
“Health care organizations are always presented with unique challenges, but in the midst of a public health pandemic, their ongoing commitment to continuous quality improvement brings a heightened appreciation for this year’s finalists,” said AAAHC Board Chair, Timothy Peterson, MD. “The most distinguished quality improvement studies are recognized by the Kershner QI Awards each year, demonstrating that it is both important and possible to continuously improve patient experience and clinical care even during the most trying times.”
AAAHC is honored to recognize the following health care organizations and their innovative QI studies that exemplify AAAHC’s 1095 Strong, quality every day philosophy.
2020-21 Bernard A. Kershner Primary Care Winner
Purdue University Student Health Center
West Lafayette, IN
“Immunization Error Quality Improvement Study”
Using data analysis to identify the root causes of immunization errors, the team instituted several updates related to staff communication and education, electronic medical records, flowcharts, inventory tracking and oversight protocols. Remeasurement indicated that the average immunization error rate decreased by 74%, surpassing the set goal of decreasing the error rates by 50% from the initial rate.
2020-21 Bernard A. Kershner Surgical/Procedural Care Winner
Medical City Surgery Center, Las Colinas
Irving, TX
“Email Capture of Patient Population”
The study focused on collecting patient email addresses to ensure an adequate sample size for monthly patient experience surveys. Areas addressed included enhancing patient communication before and during an office visit and improving documentation protocol among clinical staff. Following the new procedures for one month, the facility surpassed its target email capture rate of 75% by achieving an 88% email capture rate.
For more information, visit https://www.aaahc.org/quality-institute.
