ECRI Institute's 2011 Health Devices Achievement Award - Call for Entries

6th Annual Award Will Recognize Excellence in Health Technology Management

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute® (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, is now accepting submissions to its sixth annual Health Devices Achievement Award program. The award honors healthcare facilities for achieving excellence in health technology management.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110112/DC29081LOGO)

The deadline for submissions for this year's award is June 1, 2011. Entries are accepted online at https://www.ecri.org/hdaward.

"Our member hospitals consistently undertake important initiatives to improve patient safety, improve healthcare quality, and reduce costs. Our goal with this award is to not only honor outstanding work, but to broadly share their best practices and lessons learned," says James P. Keller, Jr., vice president, health technology evaluation and safety, ECRI Institute.

The winner of ECRI Institute's 2011 Health Devices Achievement Award will receive a plaque honoring its accomplishment and will be featured in ECRI Institute's Health Devices journal and in other promotional outlets. Last year's winner, Kaiser Permanente, Irvine, CA submitted descriptions of its groundbreaking "Total Joint Replacement Registry" and "Cardiac Device Registry" initiatives.

"We are honored to receive this recognition from the ECRI Institute," said Elizabeth Paxton, director of surgical outcomes and analysis at Kaiser Permanente. "Our registries allow health care professionals and researchers to enhance quality and patient safety through assessment of new technology determining which devices and techniques are best for our patients."

Previous winners of the Health Devices Achievement Award include:

2010 – Kaiser Permanente, Irvine, CA

2009 – Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, NH

2008 – Children's Hospital, Omaha, NE

2007 – Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX

2006 – Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI

"We have been very impressed with the quality of work from our past winners and other submitters," added Keller. "We're looking forward to seeing more of the same in 2011."

Submit online at https://www.ecri.org/hdaward, via e-mail at [email protected], fax to (610) 834-1275, or mail to: ECRI Institute, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, USA.  Finalists will be asked to provide a high-resolution organization logo for inclusion on the ECRI Institute Web site. Submissions will not be returned. ECRI Institute may use the content from any of the submissions in its publications, online services, and products and promotions.

ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this science for 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO, listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, strives to achieve the highest levels of safety and quality in healthcare by collecting and analyzing patient safety information and sharing lessons learned and best practices. For more information, please visit www.ecri.org.

SOURCE ECRI Institute