American Health-care Association

Citation

(2005), "American Health-care Association", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2005.06218aab.009

American Health-care Association

American Health-care AssociationQuality awards

Keywords: Continuous improvement, Long-term care, Baldrige Award, Performance management

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Centre For Assisted Living (NCAL) have awarded their Quality Award to 108 long-term care facilities that demonstrated a strong commitment to a systematic process for continuous quality improvement. The awards this year consist of an entry level, Step I Award, a more rigorous Step II Award and a comprehensive Step III Award. In 2004, 96 facilities were recognised with the Step I Award, an additional 10 facilities received the Step II Award, and for the first time 2 facilities earned the Step III Award. The AHCA/NCAL Quality Award is modelled after criteria from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which is the nation’s premier recognition for quality achievement. AHCA/NCAL’s award recognises the commitment to a continuous quality improvement process at nursing facilities, assisted living residences, and residences for persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities. Selected facilities have made quality outcomes and customer satisfaction top priorities. The program also promotes peer and public recognition.

“Recipients of our Quality Award reflect the long term care profession’s commitment to meeting customers’ needs through a process of continuous quality improvement. Increasingly providers recognise how this translates into enhanced quality of care and quality of life for their residents,” said AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Hal Daub. “Recipients of this prestigious award know that the pursuit of excellence is a continuous journey, and hat the destination makes the journey worthwhile.”

Facilities that applied for the award addressed how they employed methods that used data collection and information analysis to help monitor and improve performance. By following the series of developmental steps that make up the award process, providers gain knowledge and skills to help them better serve their customers. Step I applicants who earned the award developed solid vision and mission statements and, surveyed their customers regarding their expectations, needs and satisfaction. Recipients at the Step II level addressed in detail aspects of leadership, strategic planning, information and analysis, human resource development and management, process management and business results. Recipients in the Step III category addressed the Baldrige criteria in its entirety, specifically their integration of the seven major categories and the 19 specific sub-items of the Baldrige criteria.

The AHCA/NCAL Quality Award was created in 1996 in response to an increasingly consumer-driven health care market’s search for quantifiable indicators of quality accomplishments. Sponsors of the Quality Awards are Ross Products Division of Abbott Labs and Briggs Corporation. The Quality Awards are part of AHCA/NCAL’s Quality First initiative, which strives to provide a spectrum of patient/resident-centered care, and services, which nurture the individual’s health and their lives by preserving their connections with extended family and friends, and promoting dignity, respect, independence, and choice.

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Centre For Assisted Living (NCAL) are committed to quality and performance excellence in the long term care profession and actively support Quality First, a covenant for healthy, affordable, and ethical long term care, and adherence to its principles and goals. Nationwide, AHCA and NCAL represent more than 10,000 non-profit and for-profit facilities that are dedicated to professional and compassionate care to more than one million elderly and disabled individuals daily in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, sub acute centres and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.