National Quality Awards

Recipients of a national AHCA Quality Award automatically receive the state award.

American Health Care Association Quality Awards
 
The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program provides a pathway for providers of long term care services to journey towards performance excellence. The program is based on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The Quality Award program has three progressive step levels. Applications are judged by trained Examiners who provide feedback on opportunities for improvement to support continuous learning. Facilities must achieve an award at each level to progress to the next level.

Bronze – Commitment to Quality applicants begin their quality journey by developing an organizational profile including vision and mission statements, an awareness of their environment and customers’ expectations, and a demonstration of their ability to improve a process.

Silver – Achievement in Quality applicants demonstrate a level of achievement in their quality journey through good performance outcomes that have evolved from how they embrace the core values and concepts of visionary leadership, focus on the future, resident-focused excellence, management by innovation, and focus on results and creating value.

Gold At the Gold Award level, applicants must show superior performance in areas of the criteria including leadership, strategic planning, and customer and staff satisfaction. By completing the Gold level criteria, organizations take their quality journey to a higher level through the valuable feedback received in the application process and thereby reaching organizational goals. Gold applicants address the Baldrige Excellence Framework in its entirety. Applicants are required to receive the Bronze – Commitment to Quality and Silver – Achievement in Quality​ Awards before applying at the Gold level.

Staff Contact:
Maureen Carland
Director of Quality Improvement &
Regulatory Affairs