NAHQ Announces Dates & Details for Virtual Annual Conference, NAHQ NEXT

Fully virtual conference to offer unprecedented levels of content and accessibility in support of healthcare professionals who work in quality as they respond to COVID-19 pandemic

CHICAGO (July 9, 2020) – The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) will host its annual NAHQ NEXT conference September 14-16 in a fully virtual environment, the organization has announced. Healthcare and quality professionals were called upon amid the COVID-19 pandemic to support their local communities with improved patient outcomes through proven healthcare quality competencies. Now is the time to pause, reflect and prepare for what is to come, through NAHQ NEXT’s competency- and solution-based sessions, as well as professional development and career sessions, ideal for individuals and groups.

“NAHQ has been working to reduce variability in healthcare quality competencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the shortcomings of working on-the-fly at a local level to solve national and global healthcare quality issues. NAHQ is convening leaders at NAHQ NEXT to focus on the healthcare quality imperatives in a post-COVID-19 environment and to discuss the requirements to prepare the workforce to become more high-functioning in the future,” said NAHQ CEO and Executive Director Stephanie Mercado, CAE. “Before the pandemic, healthcare waste was estimated to be upwards of $900B annually and was the third leading cause of death. The pandemic was the crisis that shined a bright light on existing challenges, and NAHQ’s competency framework will be a foundational solution to addressing these issues in the long term.”

Confirmed speakers for NAHQ NEXT work in quality or leadership at some of the nation’s most recognized and prestigious healthcare organizations, including Cedars-Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Lifespan and SSM Health.

World Patient Safety Day
As part of World Patient Safety Day on September 17, another new element for NAHQ NEXT this year is a collaboration with Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF), a global nonprofit organization that offers free tools to help achieve zero preventable patient deaths across the world. PSMF will provide content for the final day of NAHQ NEXT and continuing medical education (CME) credit for select sessions during the conference (pending approval).

“Improving patient safety requires a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government, employers and private payers,” said David Mayer, MD, CEO of PSMF and executive director of the MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety, who will serve as a NAHQ NEXT speaker. “Our collaboration with NAHQ amplifies our mission of creating deeper awareness of the unacceptable levels of preventable medical error and of healthcare workforce safety events occurring today and will spur additional support of our public awareness campaign #uniteforsafecare on which will run leading up to World Patient Safety Day, from September 8 to the 17.”

About NAHQ 
NAHQ is the leader in healthcare quality workforce competencies and creator of the twice-validated, industry-standard Healthcare Quality Competency Framework. NAHQ provides a strategic advantage to healthcare professionals and the organizations they serve by developing and evolving workforce competencies in healthcare quality that result in better patient and financial outcomes to support the goals of healthcare value.

NAHQ offers the only accredited certification in healthcare quality, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality^® (CPHQ), now held by more than 12,000 individuals worldwide; extensive educational programming; networking opportunities and career resources to more than 8,000 members. Learn more about NAHQ at NAHQ.org.

About PSMF
Each year, more than 200,000 people die unnecessarily in U.S. hospitals. Worldwide, 4.8 million lives are similarly lost. The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) is a global non-profit on a mission to eliminate preventable patient deaths from medical errors. PSMF uniquely brings patients and patient advocates, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government, employers, and private payers together under the same cause. From our Actionable Patient Safety Solutions and industry Open Data Pledge to our World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit and more, PSMF won’t stop fighting until we achieve zero. For more information, please visit www.patientsafetymovement.org.

Media Contact

NAHQ
Juliana Fishleigh
jfishleigh@nahq.org
(312) 579-3083

PSMF
Allison Guthrie | Greenbrier Partners
media@patientsafetymovement.org
(818) 523-8581