Tacoma - Governor Christine Gregoire presented Qualis Health this Wednesday with the prestigious Washington State Quality Award for performance excellence. She applauded the accomplishments of the Seattle-based nonprofit in applying cutting edge management approaches in its healthcare quality improvement activities.

The Achievement Level Award was presented to Qualis Health President and CEO Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH at the annual Washington State Quality Award Symposium (WSQA) held at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.

“It is a particular honor for Qualis Health to receive this award from the governor in light of her personal commitment to improving the quality of healthcare delivered to Washington’s citizens, a commitment that is so closely aligned with our organization’s mission and vision,” Sugarman said.

Applicants are reviewed and awarded based on the national Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, which provides a systems perspective for improving organizational performance. They reflect validated, leading-edge management practices against which an organization can measure itself. With their acceptance nationally and internationally as the model for performance excellence, the criteria represent a common language for communication among organizations for sharing best practices.

“One of the major goals of Qualis Health is to assure that its products and services are aligned with the Institute of Medicine aims of improved safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, patient centeredness, and equity in healthcare,” Sugarman said.

A nine-member examination team found that Qualis Health utilizes its Balanced Scorecard to distribute key corporate organizational measures that are monitored and tracked against strategic and tactical goals. It lauded Qualis Health for its ability to maintain a focus on the future and ongoing commitment to improvements in the healthcare industry by using lean-based principles and multi-disciplinary teams to work toward aligning services and priorities with its mission, vision, and values.

The WSQA recognizes organizations that have implemented and achieved superior outcomes in public and private sectors that include for-profit, nonprofit, healthcare, public, and education. Applicants are evaluated by strenuous criteria that include: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, human resource focus, process management, and business results.