New Orleans— At the 46th Annual Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Cardinal Health launched BarCode360, a solution that supports hospitals’ medication safety initiatives by making it easier, more timely and cost efficient to order medications and ensure more unit-dose medications can be scanned at the patient bedside.

Orlando, Florida—The Picker Award for Excellence, which recognizes outstanding achievement in promoting and furthering patient-centered care, was awarded to Dr. Don Berwick on Wednesday, Dec. 7, the last day of the 23rd annual national forum hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which Dr. Berwick cofounded in 1989.

Horsham, Pennsylvania—The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) announced its 14th Annual Cheers Awards winners and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. The Cheers Awards honor individuals, organizations, and companies that have set a standard of excellence for others to follow in the prevention of medication errors and adverse drug events. The winners of this year’s awards are:

Washington, D.C.—Sixty-five hospitals have earned The Leapfrog Group’s annual “Top Hospital” designation, equaling 2010’s record-setting total. The “Top Hospital” designation, which is the most competitive national hospital quality award in the country, recognizes hospitals that deliver the highest quality care by preventing medical errors, reducing mortality for high-risk procedures like heart bypass surgery, and reducing hospital readmissions for patients being treated for conditions like pneumonia and heart attack.

Dec. 1, 2011—In partnership with the Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation, The Doctors Company Foundation presents the Young Physicians Patient Safety Award—an award to recognize young physicians for their deep personal insight into the significance of patient safety work. Six winners will receive $5,000 + registration and travel expenses to the NPSF Annual Congress in May 2012. Application deadline is Feb. 9, 2012.

Nov. 22, 2011—U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson today named four organizations—three health care operations and one nonprofit business—as recipients of the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership.

Baxter International Inc. announced the company has completed its planned acquisition of Baxa Corporation, a privately held global company based in Englewood, Colo., for a cash consideration of $380 million. Baxa develops pharmacy technology that enhances the efficiency and safety of oral and IV dose preparation and delivery.

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based practice management, electronic health record (EHR), and care coordination services to medical groups, announced a collaboration agreement with Medley Health, a leading provider of membership practice marketing and communications services for independent primary care physicians and their patients.

NQF is now accepting applications for its 2012 National Quality Healthcare Award. Interested organizations must complete an Intent to Apply and submit it no later than December 22, 2011 to be considered eligible.

San Jose, California, October 4, 2011—Vocera Communications, Inc., announced the commercial introduction of the new Vocera B3000 Communication Badge featuring enhanced durability, audio quality and speech recognition.