The Fine Foundation and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation announced winners of the 2018 Fine Awards for Teamwork Excellence in Health Care. This year’s Fine Awards, which mark the 10th anniversary of the program, recognize and reward healthcare organizations that have proven to be wired for excellence by developing, sustaining, and spreading quality improvement initiatives.

 

The 2018 Fine Award winners are (award amount in parentheses):

Since 2008, JHF has partnered with The Fine Foundation to celebrate teams that demonstrate exceptional performance around patient safety and quality improvement within and beyond their organizations. In 2018, the Fine Award winners were selected by the 34 multidisciplinary healthcare graduate students and professionals who participated in JHF’s Patient Safety Fellowship. This summer, the Patient Safety Fellows delved into the emerging field of health implementation science, and then interviewed and analyzed healthcare teams that had previously received Fine Award recognition. Based on what they learned, the Patient Safety Fellows then voted for the healthcare organizations that demonstrated the strongest commitment to continuous excellence in safety, quality, efficiency, and innovation. 

 

Health implementation science considers the broader context in which quality improvement takes place, examining factors such as policies and incentives; organizational culture and structure; individual values and beliefs; and the planning, execution, and evaluation of projects. Joel Stevans, PhD, DC, a senior implementation scientist at the University of Pittsburgh Health Policy Institute, instructed and guided the Patient Safety Fellows through their journey.  

 

“We are proud of the teams’ commitment not only to implement unique solutions to improve patient care but to find systematic ways to disseminate and spread this important work to other health care partners,” said Milton Fine, chair of The Fine Foundation.

 

“During this year’s Patient Safety Fellowship, we had the unique opportunity to marry Perfecting Patient CareSM, —our methodology to improve healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency—with exciting new constructs from the world of health implementation science,” said JHF President and CEO Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD. “By exploring these concepts and partnering with Fine Award-winning teams that display them, the Patient Safety Fellows understand what helps or hinders long-term quality improvement. They’re poised to serve as leaders within our health institutions and practices, and to be skilled champions of quality and safety.”