VM’s CEO to receive national award for work on health-care quality and patient safety

Virginia Mason’s CEO Dr. Gary S. Kaplan has been chosen to receive a national award for his work to improve health-care quality and patient safety.

The John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement is given each year by the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission.

The award is named after Dr. John M. Eisenberg, who as administrator of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was one of the early leaders of efforts to improve the quality of U.S. healthcare. Dr. Eisenberg died in 2002 at the age of 55 of a brain tumor.

Dr. Kaplan is being recognized for his work at Virginia Mason to improve the delivery of healthcare by adopting a management system modeled on the celebrated quality-improvement techniques developed by the Japanese car company Toyota.

“Introducing breakthrough changes derived from the Toyota Production System, Dr. Kaplan spearheaded the creation of the Virginia Mason Production System,” the National Quality Form said. “The patient safety and quality achievements realized at Virginia Mason as a result of consistently applying these innovative methods has attracted the interest and attention of health care leaders nationally and internationally.”

The National Quality Forum is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization focused on quality improvement in the healthcare. The Joint Commission is an independent, non-profit that sets quality standards and accredits hospitals and other health-care organizations.

To learn more:

• Visit the National Quality Forum and Joint Commission Web sites.
• Visit Virginia Mason Medical Center’s information page about the Virginia Mason Production System.
• Read Tributes of John Eisenberg in the journal Health Affairs.

Tags: Kaplan, Virginia Mason

Category: Provider News