John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement Call for Nominations

EngagingPatients.org, an online community dedicated to sharing best practices in patient and family engagement, has opened nominations for the 2015 John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement.

The John Q. Sherman Award was established in 2014 to elevate the innovative work people and organizations from across the continuum of care are doing to advance patient and family engagement. The National Patient Safety Foundation’s (NPSF) Lucian Leape Institute and Standard Register Healthcare are sponsoring the award, which they will confer at NPSF’s 17^th annual Patient Safety Congress in Austin, Texas on April 30. The award is named for John Q. Sherman, philanthropist and founder of Standard Register.

“As a delivery system, the future of healthcare depends on our ability to engage patients and keep them activated. At the heart of that transformation is the work being done to engage patients and their personal support networks. The John Q. Sherman Award is designed to recognize the people and organizations that are reshaping care through patient and family engagement,” said John King, chairperson for EngagingPatients.org’s advisory board and president of Standard Register Healthcare. “We hope that by showcasing their remarkable results, more providers and advocates will be inspired to learn, share and adopt more patient and family-centered practices.”

The award assesses achievement in patient engagement across six categories: Innovation, Transformation, Collaboration, Communication, Inspiration, and Systems Change. Nominations can address any of these categories as desired. Achievement in all categories is not required to enter.

Judges will evaluate award submissions based on the results the nominee has achieved, the potential for the nominee’s initiative to sustain results over time and be replicated by other organizations and individuals, and the initiative’s relevance to advancing patient engagement.

“Patient engagement is a key area of focus for the National Patient Safety Foundation and the NPSF Lucian Leape Institute,” said Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president and CEO of NPSF and president of the Institute. “Recognizing the innovators in patient engagement is a very valuable way to help other organizations learn and improve, so we are pleased to be working in collaboration with Standard Register Healthcare on this.”

Nominations will be accepted through February 28. Work must have occurred between January 1, 2013 and January 2015. The official nomination form and full details about criteria for the John Q. Sherman Award are available at www.EngagingPatients.org/award.