What happens when you combine a proven method of assessing how your organization is performing in the present economic environment with an opportunity for professional development and benchmarking with leading industries in our state? You have the Governor’s Quality Award Program and five major healthcare organizations in the state joining forces to present the 2009 Challenge Healthcare Seminar. The Foundation for Medical Care, American Data Network, Arkansas Healthcare Association, Arkansas Hospital Association, and Community Health Centers of Arkansas have all partnered to bring improvement and success in the healthcare field in the state.
The Intent to Apply deadline to be a participant in the Governor’s Quality Award is just around the corner on Wednesday, April 1. The beginning level of the Governor’s Quality Award is the Challenge Level. This level allows you to challenge your company to start the process to quality improvement with only a three-page organizational summary. You can apply at any level of the program and participate in the Challenge Seminar and Benchmark Tours.
The Challenge Healthcare Seminar scheduled for June 10 at the Statehouse Convention Center will be an excellent professional development opportunity for your staff. Ten members of your staff can attend this seminar and gain valuable knowledge about not only improving the healthcare field as a whole but how they can apply those improvements to their individual organizations.
The featured speaker is Dr. Carl Couch, Senior Consultant for Clinical Excellence and Medical Director for HealthTexas Provider Network with Baylor Healthcare. Dr. Couch will provide strategies for improvement and professional development through organizational leadership, understanding who your customers are and how to best serve them, measurement and feedback, and employee partnerships at all levels.
For over 15 years the Governor’s Quality Award Program has been serving Arkansas’s organizations by identifying business strengths and opportunities for improvement and creating a culture of quality by using the Baldrige Criteria. Through probing questions, the Criteria guide leaders and organizations to discover what is important and how to align everything the organization does to reduce costs, focus on customers and employees, and ensure overall organizational effectiveness.
If you’re interested in applying to the program and receiving the benefits of application, go to http://www.arkansas-quality.org/ for more information. Please contact Sue Weatter at sweatter@arkansasstatechamber.com or call 501-372-2222 for additional questions.
