WellSpan Health is honored to be announced as the winner of the prestigious American Hospital Association (AHA) Quest for Quality prize for hospital leadership and innovation in quality performance improvement. It’s the highest honors WellSpan has achieved to date on its journey toward high reliability and a commitment to quality care for its patients. The health system topped finalists from across the country for this annual prize that has been awarded since 2002.

“WellSpan’s 23,000 problem solvers embrace a goal of zero harm for patients and team members and this recognition from the American Hospital Association is a testament to that important effort,” said Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president & CEO, WellSpan Health. “At WellSpan, every day, every team member makes the safety of our patients a top priority.”

The American Hospital Association awards committee noted WellSpan’s safety infrastructure as impressive, specifically praising the comprehensive daily tiered safety huddles used within the organization to escalate any potential issues, allowing teams to make care decisions quickly and efficiently across the system. Part of WellSpan’s strategy in providing safe, highly reliable care has been creating a sense of psychological safety and just culture within the system where all team members, including those on the frontlines of providing care, feel empowered to share their perspective, as well as any safety issues that may arise, so that they can quickly be addressed.

Implementation of this strategy led to a 45% decrease in what are considered serious safety events during care, and a 97% increase in team members feeling empowered to stop the line and report patient safety events. The improvement efforts have been highly publicized across the industry. 

“Psychological safety and just culture are deeply embedded in WellSpan’s approach to improving our own work and accelerating our journey to high reliability,” said Dr. Michael Seim, senior vice president and chief quality officer at WellSpan Health. “This focus allows us to achieve our mission to provide the highest quality care for our patients to meet and exceed their health goals.”

AHA committee members also praised WellSpan’s creative and strategic use of technology as a means to promote high-quality care. They specifically mentioned information technology, artificial intelligence, telehealth, robots and customizable dashboards used for data tracking. They also cited the use of AI to monitor patient deterioration and for transcription, credentialing and orientation and applauded WellSpan for creating an AI governance committee.

WellSpan’s commitment to reducing health disparities in the communities it serves was also highlighted. Support for York’s large Haitian population and pregnant mothers, and WellSpan’s efforts to work to reduce gun violence were specifically noted. WellSpan’s strategy to identify social determinants of health and its impacts on patients in its communities so that it may build programs in partnership with community groups is helping to improve the lives of its citizens. More on this important work can be found in WellSpan’s Community Impact Report. 

The American Hospital Association will present the award to WellSpan officials at the AHA Leadership Summit on July 21-23, 2024, in San Diego.

For details on how WellSpan prioritizes safety and quality in everything it does, visit www.Wellspan.org/Quality.