UK King’s Daughters Health System Partners with NAHQ to Standardize Quality Competencies of the Workforce

The quality-driven health system has committed to NAHQ’s Workforce Accelerator^® solution for healthcare quality and safety advancement.

CHICAGO (Aug. 17, 2023) – The National Association for Healthcare Quality^® (NAHQ) is pleased to announce its collaboration with the University of Kentucky’s (UK) King’s Daughters Health System, based in Ashland, Kentucky, to accomplish quality standardization with the assistance of its Workforce Accelerator^® solution. Standardizing competencies across roles and responsibilities in healthcare quality is key to reducing variability in care delivery and improving patient outcomes.

Workforce Accelerator is a scalable, multi-phase enterprise solution designed for healthcare organizations to accelerate their quality journey and leverage their quality workforce to its maximum potential. This solution aids organizations in planning and prioritizing to expedite the achievement of their quality and performance improvement goals. Since its inception, this program has now served 10 organizations and 778 participants by providing invaluable resources, including customized plans working toward decentralizing quality and safety operations by investing in the success of staff members at varying levels.

This workforce solution is based on NAHQ’s Healthcare Quality Competency Framework, the industry-standard framework for healthcare quality competencies that aims to reduce variability of care delivery through a common vocabulary and toolset. It consists of nearly every skill and competency needed to operate a high-functioning quality program and offers career pathways for individuals to explore.

“I was attracted to Workforce Accelerator because I knew that system integration of quality would increase the knowledge needed for professionals in safety and quality related roles. I want to use Workforce Accelerator to help create development plans after review of each participant’s assessment, so that we can build a high-functioning quality program at UK King’s Daughters Health,” said Mashekia Jones-Slack, vice president of quality for UK King’s Daughters Health System.

NAHQ uses Workforce Accelerator to help identify gaps within the quality workforce and offers training and upskilling programs that are best for each individual organization’s needs. This personalized approach to workforce development also takes into account geographic location, which in turn assists with improving care access and health equity across the nation.

“When it comes to health equity, high-quality care is critical to keeping costs down and ensuring healthcare is accessible to everyone in the community. We believe Workforce Accelerator will be an invaluable tool in not only advancing our quality and safety goals, but in making a difference to reduce harm and improve patient outcomes across the system,” said Jones-Slack.

“Quality excellence is something that we should strive for in all healthcare settings, but especially in rural areas where care access can be limited. Every community deserves access to high-quality care, so I’m excited to partner with UK King’s Daughters Health System in our quest to advance quality and address workforce gaps that contribute to variability in care delivery,” said Rick Bobos, senior vice president of organizational workforce solutions for NAHQ.

To learn more about the value of standardizing quality and safety competencies in healthcare, download NAHQ’s “Healthcare Quality and Safety Workforce Report, New Imperatives for Quality and Safety Mean New Imperatives for Workforce Development,” and other NAHQ Intelligence assets at Insights – NAHQ.

About UK King’s Daughters

Serving nearly 400,000 residents in eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and western West Virginia, King’s Daughters is comprised of two acute-care hospitals totaling 465 licensed beds; an integrated network of more than 400 physicians and advanced practitioners; more than 40 outpatient locations throughout eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio; a skilled nursing facility (SNF); medical transport company; six urgent care centers; and a child day care center. King’s Daughters is the region’s largest employer, with more than 5,200 team members providing a broad range of primary and specialty care services, including cardiovascular, orthopedics, oncology, stroke/neurology, maternity, and Level 3 neonatal intensive care.

In December 2022, King’s Daughters became a part of the University of Kentucky.

You can visit KDMC’s website at KingsDaughtersHealth.com

About NAHQ

The National Association for Healthcare Quality^® (NAHQ) is the only organization dedicated to healthcare quality pros, defining the standard of excellence for the profession, and equipping professionals and organizations across the continuum of healthcare to meet these standards. NAHQ believes that to reduce variability in healthcare delivery, we must first reduce variability in healthcare quality competencies, so we focus our efforts on healthcare quality competencies and workforce development. NAHQ published the first and only Healthcare Quality Competency Framework and validated it twice in the market. We offer the only accredited certification in healthcare quality, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality^® (CPHQ), extensive educational programming, networking opportunities and career resources to help healthcare quality professionals enhance their competencies and their value. Learn more at NAHQ.org.