Your Aug. 22 cover story, "Unique Awards-Everyone's a winner" (p. 26), devalues leading healthcare organizations' honest efforts to improve performance. The Healthcare Forum's awards, including the "Commitment to Quality Award" and "Healthier Communities Award," are designed to discern and celebrate the most innovative, effective leaders in our field.
Over the years, our award winners have emerged as superior in an increasingly rigorous selection process. For example, Commitment to Quality Award winners have demonstrated business excellence in the approach, deployment and results of total quality management as evaluated by a distinguished team of examiners and judges trained in a scoring methodology similar to the Baldrige Award process.
Further, as sponsors of the selection process, we are gratified by the accelerated progress of organizations using the award criteria for self-assessment and competition. The Healthcare Forum, along with our award winners, have cultivated-and helped to inspire-improved performance among the entire pool of applicants.
While the winners benefit through media coverage and recognition from the field, they have generously shared their innovative practices with others. The Healthcare Forum believes that collaborative benchmarking, rapid organizational learning and overcoming the "not invented here" syndrome are keys to healthcare's transformation. We encourage MODERN HEALTHCARE to join us in celebrating the role these awards play in inspiring new leadership for healthcare.
KEITH McCANDLESS
Director of quality
The Healthcare Forum
San Francisco
