AQA Judges Announce Team Showcase Awards

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Quality Award panel of judges has chosen four health care teams to receive the 2010 Team Showcase awards.

East Alabama Medical Center’s Cancer Center Project Team of Opelika was awarded the gold level award.

Huntsville Hospital’s Optimizing “Smart” Infusion Pump Safety Technology in a Community Health System Team, as well as the hospital’s Improving Patient Safety through Pediatric Dose Standardization in a Women and Children’s Community Hospital Team each received the silver level award.

Huntsville Hospital also has a bronze-level award winner in its Clostridium difficile Infection Reduction Team.

The Team Showcase annually recognizes teams in the sectors of small business, service, manufacturing, education, health care and non-profits.

Team Showcase recognizes teams for their performance and achievements, and to demonstrate unique approaches to improvement processes. It also encourages other organizations’ teams and serves as a platform to display Kaizen and quality improvement teams as well as the use of lean principles within an organization.

The awards will be presented to the teams during the AQA conference and ceremony, to be held at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach Dec. 1-3. Each team selected for Team Showcase will make a presentation and have a brief question-and-answer session for other teams and conference attendees.

The AQA is modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The AQA recognizes and honors organizations that use effective productivity and quality improvement strategies, techniques or practices which can be shared with other organizations to help contribute to the overall economic well-being in the state of Alabama.

Team Showcase awards are administered by the Alabama Productivity Center, a nonprofit organization established in 1986 by The University of Alabama and Alabama Power Company and housed in the Culverhouse College of Commerce. The Center’s purpose is to use University research and educational resources to stimulate economic development within the state.