George Mason University
Improvement of the Year Award

 

Improvement of the Year Award

George Mason University College of Nursing and Health Science invites healthcare organizations to participate in our "Improvement of the Year" Award. This award will focus on project-by-project reviews and cross organization interaction intended to assess how well your improvement efforts are doing. This is different from other prestigious local and national awards, which focus on an entire organization's improvement efforts.

All projects submitted will receive an analysis of their improvement practices along with average benchmarks for improvement efforts.  We have conducted reviews of improvement efforts for some time. Our methods of assessing improvement efforts are well documented and rely on a careful review of the project as well as a quantitative analysis of important practices.  More►

Participating organizations will benefit from the efforts of cross-organizational collaboration with access to our database of improvement efforts. Our database currently includes more than 200 improvement projects from more than 30 organizations. With your participation, this database will be available to your organization.

Start your application today! Download the application form. Download►

Return your completed application to:

George Mason University
College of Health and Human Services
MS: 1J3 · Northeast Module
4400 University Blvd
Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444
Phone: (703) 993-1929
Fax: (703) 993-1953
Email:

Award Process

Each project submitted will be reviewed by a panel of distinguished experts consisting of representatives from academia, healthcare organizations and founding member organizations. Projects will be ranked using the following criteria:

  • Impact of project on organization
  • Creative solutions to central problems
  • Effectiveness in going beyond the unit
  • Quantitative analysis of important practices

An awards dinner will be held each January and all projects recognized. Founding partners, CEO's of participating organizations, and the media will be invited to attend. The winners will present their work at the ceremony and be invited to join the panel of judges for the following year's award.
Submission Requirements

There is an entry fee of $500 per project. An invoice will be submitted to your organization post registration. Once your project is registered, you will be contacted to set up an in-person interview. A college representative, utilizing a standardized questionnaire designed to measure characteristics of improvement efforts will meet with the project team leader. This interview takes approximately one hour.

You will also be required to submit a PR statement and a written summary, not exceeding one page in length, of your improvement project to:

George Mason University
College of Health and Human Services
Attn: Caroline E Valentino
4400 University Drive, MS 3C4
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: (703) 993-1929
Fax: (703) 993-1953
Email:

2006 Awards

Mason’s Department of Health Administration and Policy in the College of Health and Human Services announced the three winners of its 2006 Improvement of the Year Award on March 5, 2007.  The 2006 Improvement of the Year award winners are:

  • Centra Health Lynchburg General Hospital (Lynchburg, Va.): Responding to a higher-than-average rate of delirium amongst patients in its intensive care unit (ICU), Lynchburg General Hospital created an education program to improve its early recognition and treatment of ICU delirium. Consequently, delirium rates dropped to 1.1 percent, resulting in a significant decrease in patient length of stay in the ICU.
  • Union Hospital (Elkton, Md.): With a high proportion of new nurses leaving the hospital within the first 12 months of hire, Union Hospital responded by creating an interdisciplinary task force that improved nursing orientation and created a new hire support program. The intervention has decreased nursing turnover the first year of employment by 47 percent, saving the hospital $900,000 annually.
  • Fauquier Hospital (Warrenton, Va.): Fauquier Hospital developed criteria for the early identification of patients in distress so staff could more easily and rapidly detect patients at risk for cardiac arrest. After implementing the criteria, code blue calls at the hospital fell by 47 percent.

2005 Awards

The 2005 awards for Improvement of the Year was announced on February 23rd 2006:

  • Dr. Spencer G. Feldman from Price William Hospital in Virginia presented the opening address on his own personal encounters with poor care quality.  Listen►
  • Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D., Professor of Health Administration and Policy in College of Health and Human Services presented the 2005 award Slides►

2004 Awards

The 2004 awards for Improvement of the Year was announced on February 2nd 2005:

  • Ken Kozloff, Vice President of Inova Health System, presented the opening address Listen►
  • Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D. Acting Assistant Dean of College of Nursing and Health Science presents the awards Listen►
  • See Press Release announcing 2004 awardees.  Press Release►