National Patient Safety Foundation Seeking Submissions for Socius Award and Chairman’s Medal

Submissions Due By March 24, 2006

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) is now seeking submissions for its two new awards—the Socius Award and the Chairman’s Medal—both of which were unveiled at the NPSF Annual Congress in 2005. These awards will be presented during the 8th Annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress, which is being held May 10-12 at the San Francisco Marriott.

“We feel it is important to recognize the incredible work going on in this field and we’ve chosen to focus on two key areas—emerging leadership and effective partnering between patients, families, and providers,” said Diane C. Pinakiewicz, NPSF President.

The Socius Award, named for the Latin word “partner,” recognizes initiatives that successfully involve patients and families in patient safety solutions. Any individual or organization within the United States that has established a collaborative patient safety initiative that involves consumers, patients, and their families is eligible for this Award. Consumer groups, patient and family organizations, hospitals, health care centers, managed care organizations, and physician organizations are among the groups eligible to be nominated for the Award.

The Chairman’s Medal recognizes the outstanding achievements of emerging leaders in the patient safety field. The recipient of the Chairman’s Medal will have demonstrated leadership ability by putting forth innovative ideas and approaches to patient safety in order to create positive change and measurable improvement. All health care organizations and leaders within the United States, including hospitals, health care centers, managed care organizations, and physician organizations, are eligible for the Chairman’s Award.

In order for nominations to be considered for either award, a 500 to 1,000 word essay must be submitted no later than March 24, 2006. For further information and the forms for submission, log on to www.npsf.org.

Addendum on March 7, 2006: The deadline for applications was extended from March 15 to March 24, 2006.