The 2015 UPHS Quality and Patient Safety Awards from the Department of Clinical Effectiveness and Quality Improvement (CEQI) were fornally awarded in the Houston Hall of Flags this afternoon. The awards have long served as an opportunity for teams to formally document their achievements in quality and patient safety and are designed to acknowledge UPHS departments who have exhibited leadership and innovation in activities that ensure high-quality clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, patient safety and cost efficiency. We are very proud of the lab-team members who were among the participants in two of the quality project finalists this year:

 - Operational Award Winner, Clinical Care Associates: "Decreasing Penn Medicine Safety Net (PMSN) Events Specific to Phlebotomy-Related Issues." Team members from PLM included Sherri Diggs, Kara Geibel, Peg Bulley, and Debbie Mincarelli.
 
 - Honorable Mention Award Winner, UPHS: "Building a Culture of High-Value Care: Reducing Unnecessary Ordering of Inpatient Laboratory Tests." Team members from PLM included Dan Danoski, Debbie Mincarelli, and Irving Nachamkin.

A multidisciplinary committee reviewed all 103 applications and selected the 30 winning submissions using a standard scoring methodology. For more information about such high-value care initiatives, read our Pepper Talk post on unnecessary lab test reductions.