Aim for Excellence Award

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Jackie Gatz

Senior Vice President of Quality, Safety and Research

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573-893-3700| ext. 1330

The Aim for Excellence Award annually recognizes Missouri hospitals' innovation and outcomes related to the Triple Aim approach as well as recognizes achievement, disseminates successful models, motivates innovation, promotes publication and supports application to nationally-based grants and awards.

The goal of every hospital is to maximize patient-centered, efficient quality of care while reducing financial costs and penalties. The Triple Aim approach is intended to improve the individual experience of care, improve the health of populations and reduce per capita costs of care for populations.

Recognizing that hospitals have different resources, the award is divided into two categories. Judges will include external Missouri funding, academic and health-related partners.

The awards will be presented at MHA’s Annual Convention in November.

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Laura L. Lewis, Assistant to Senior Vice President or Quality, Safety and Research

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How to Apply
Past Recipients
FAQs and Tips

How to Apply

The application period is closed.

Categories (maximum of two applications per hospital facility)

critical access and rural hospitals
small and large metropolitan statistical area hospitals or health care system

Timeline

release applications – Thursday, March 6
applications due – Thursday, May 1
notify awardees – July
announce and recognize awardees – November during MHA’s Annual Convention
press release, press kit and compendium release – November following convention

Eligibility

project-based applications designating a team or organization
limit of one application per hospital facility
intervention must have been implemented for at least one year and have evidence of results
hospital-based applications must address at least two of the three Triple Aim principles; awards for the comprehensive care model or health system must address all three principles

Application Guidelines

All applications must be submitted on the application template. No other form of application will be accepted. The application template is a Word document to allow entrants to expand and condense sections under required headings. The application must be single-spaced using Calibri font no smaller than 11 point. The executive summary must NOT exceed two pages, and the entire application narrative must NOT exceed nine pages.

Judging

Each eligible application will be judged and scored by a team of external Missouri partners, including funders, academics, health-related centers and health-related organizations. Judging criteria will include the following.

Executive Summary — A two-page project summary outlining: 1) project description; 2) goal; 3) improvement strategy; 4) results and 5) lessons learned.
Triple Aim — Alignment with at least one principle of the Triple Aim (population, care/quality, cost/value)
- Bonus Points (at the discretion of each judge) – Provide evidence of all three principles incorporated into the initiative and results
National Academy of Medicine STEEEP Aims — Alignment with at least one STEEEP aim – safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, patient-centered
Problem Statement — Problem statement clearly must identify and support, with data, an opportunity for improvement
Project Goal — Project goal clearly must state a measurable improvement
Strategy — Strategy and interventions must be based on scholarly evidence
Methodology — Framework and implementation of improvement, specific tools used, communication and change management strategies
Engagement — External partner and leadership engagement
Results — Data-driven outcomes
Sustainability — Plan for sustainability and replication/spread
Lessons Learned — Most significant positive lesson learned, most significant challenge and strategy to improve

Applications referencing name, organization and/or location will result in disqualification. Please closely review all documents, charts and graphs.

Scoring

Eligibility and phase one scoring will be conducted by MHA clinical, quality and safety staff.
Second phase review and scoring will be conducted by external judges.
Award selection will be based on final ranked score.
One application for each rural and each MSA category for each of the seven focus areas will be awarded, with a maximum of 14 total awards possible.

Award Criteria	Explanation	Point Allocation
Executive Summary	A two-page project summary	5
Triple Aim	Alignment with at least one principle of the Triple Aim (population, care/quality, cost/value)	5
Triple Aim	Evidence of all three principles incorporated into the initiative and results	10 (bonus points at discretion of each judge)
National Academy of Medicine STEEEP Aim	Alignment with at least one NAM STEEEP aim — safe, timely, effective efficient, equitable, patient-centered	10
Problem Statement	Problem statement clearly must identify and support, with data, an opportunity for improvement	5
Project Goal	Project goal clearly must state a measurable improvement	5
Strategy	Strategy and interventions must be based on scholarly evidence	15
Methodology	Framework and implementation of improvement, specific tools used, communication and change management strategies	10
Engagement	External partner and leadership engagement	10
Results	Data-driven outcomes	20
Sustainability	Plan for sustainability and replication/spread	10
Lessons Learned	Most significant positive lesson learned, most significant challenge and strategy to improve	5
TOTAL		110 possible

The top application in each category must receive a minimum average total score of 75/100 to receive the award. If no applications in a particular category receive at least 75/100 points, no awards will be given in that category.

Applicants and CEOs from winning hospitals receive:

complimentary registration for MHA’s Annual Convention
complimentary tickets to the Celebration of Achievement Awards Dinner
recognition in a news release to local and statewide media
press kit sent to award winners
inclusion in compendium

View the Aim for Excellence FAQs

Past Recipients

2021 Aim for Excellence Award Winners
The 2021 awards recognize improvements undertaken to rapidly adapt to novel challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saint Luke’s Health System — Kansas City, Mo.
Saint Luke’s COVID-19 Clinical Treatment Taskforce
Citizens Memorial Hospital — Bolivar, Mo.
Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Workflow
Watch the winners’ award video.
Click the links to view the winners’ award videos.
2019 Aim for Excellence Award Winners
- Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Hospitals — Mosaic Medical Center – Albany
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — Saint Francis Medical Center, Cape Girardeau
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — Mercy Health, St. Louis
2019 Honorable Mention
- Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Hospitals — Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Clinton
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — Southeast Hospital, Cape Girardeau
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — Saint Luke’s Health System, Kansas City
Click the links to view the winners’ award videos.
2018 Aim for Excellence Award Winners
- Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Hospitals — Perry County Memorial Hospital, Perryville
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — CoxHealth, Springfield
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — Mercy, St. Louis
2018 Honorable Mention
- Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Hospitals — Northwest Medical Center
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — Saint Luke’s North Hospital
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — Children’s Mercy Kansas City
Click the links to view the winners’ award videos.
2017 Aim for Excellence Award Winners
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — Capital Region Medical Center, Jefferson City
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — Northeast Regional Medical Center, Kirksville
2017 Honorable Mention
- Small and Large Metropolitan Hospitals — Saint Luke’s North Hospital
- Care Collaborative or Health Care System — CoxHealth

FAQs and Tips

Frequently Asked Questions

A health system may submit one application for a project implemented within the entire system. The individual hospitals within that system also may submit organization-based applications for strategies/responses unique to their facility.
Example: St. George Health System has five hospitals (one critical access hospital, two community hospitals, one rehabilitation hospital, and one tertiary trauma hospital). St. George Health System has worked across all hospitals to reduce emergency department visits for nonemergent care and has demonstrated success. The system will submit this as a system-level application. However, each of the individual hospitals has been working on different hospital-acquired conditions (sepsis, falls, etc.). Two of the hospitals within the system will submit applications for their fully implemented programs to reduce HACs, demonstrating early results.
Any hospital, system-based or hospital-led community-based project that reduces harm, improves health outcomes or improves health status within the community is eligible. Think broadly about initiatives to improve patient safety, quality of care, outcomes and population health. Projects regarding these initiatives are welcomed and encouraged.
Your application should be about a specific project rather than a description of an overall strategy. The project should have a defined problem, a specific intervention and specific metrics that can be quantified and demonstrate data-based results.
This award focuses on projects and results rather than generalized descriptions of organizational cultures that support quality and population health. Only in the section “Engagement of Leaders and External Stakeholders” may the organization’s overall quality strategy be briefly mentioned. However, even in this section, the engagement should be connected to the specific project submitted. Include concrete examples of how leaders and stakeholders were engaged in this project.
The award categories were added to help MHA staff sort the applications into groups for distribution to the judges. Staff preview the applications based on Application Category and then by Award Category. Staff may contact you to reclassify your application if they believe it fits better in a different category. Please do not stress over this — it will not affect your application if you pick one category, but it is decided your project should be judged in the other.
To help you determine your category, the Clinical Excellence category might include common, clinical quality improvement outcomes relating to such topics as falls, CAUTI, CLABSI, etc. The Care Coordination category could, for example, reflect a community model in coordinating care for diabetic patients, working with primary care coordinators, etc. Reducing readmissions could fall under either category, depending on the intervention.
A hospital based in Missouri, but also serving patients from other states, may submit projects that include non-Missouri patient data. A health system may submit an initiative that is implemented in Missouri with Missouri hospital/system data and also includes data and hospitals from other states.
Regarding sources, citing in simple terms rather than what is required for publication will help validate your approach. For example, “We adopted the evidence-based model to improve x (primary author last name or agency, year).” If you would like to include a full list of resources as a bibliography, you may add this to the glossary of terms page.

Application Writing Tips

Start your application early! Allow one week to carefully review before submitting it.
Read each section very carefully. Answer the prompts included in each section.
Although it is first in the application, writing the executive summary last may be easier, and ensure that key application points are summarized into a two-page, stand-alone document. The executive summary will be published in the compendium if a minimum average score of 75 is achieved, even if the application is not the winning application.
Remember that this application is intended to showcase projects, not an overall strategy.
Don’t tell a story — present your case.
Have someone with subject matter expertise, but who is unfamiliar with the project, critically read the application. Ensure they fully understand the project scope, details, and results.
Have someone proficient with grammar and spelling edit the application.
Be careful of the project tense. Use past or current tense, not future.
Short, succinct, fact-based answers are best. Long, lengthy sentences are more difficult to follow. You are encouraged to use dot points when listing items.
It is recommended that you include tables, especially those showing results of your project. Tables may be added in the Appendix or uploaded in the application portal. Be sure that they are clear and easy to read.
Remember to include references.
It is important to include a glossary – some judges may not be clinicians.
Be sure to include national recognition of your project in your results!
Review your final application thoroughly to ensure the hospital/facility name is not referenced.
Review to be sure the application is in final format, i.e. no track changes, highlighting, etc.
Verify that the “Application Category” and “Project Scope” area you select in the online application program is the same as what you have selected on your application.