Establishment:
The American Health Care Association Board of Governors established the Board of Overseers to oversee, direct the activities, and ensure the vitality of the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program.
The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award program began in 1996. Its mission is to support the application of continuous quality improvement in AHCA and NCAL member facilities by promoting quality awareness and education, and by recognizing significant achievements in quality improvement. The program also fosters networking among participating facilities by enabling them to share winning strategies and to communicate best practices.
The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award is a distinction given to AHCA/NCAL-member organizations that are able to meet criteria of systematic quality improvement. By following the series of developmental steps that make up the application process, organizations gain knowledge and skills to help them better serve their customers and, in doing so, better position themselves in an increasingly demanding and competitive environment. This systematic foundation for quality improvement moves long term care toward higher rates of customer satisfaction, continued improvement in compliance with regulations, higher financial integrity, improvement in clinical outcomes, and a more stable staff.
Objectives and Duties:
- The Overseers shall establish the award criteria and appropriate policies and procedures to administer, promote, and preserve the credibility of the National Quality Award Program.
- The Overseers shall evaluate all aspects of the Program, including the adequacy of the criteria, the processes for determining Award recipients, and the work of the private sector contractor(s), who assist the designated staff members of AHCA/NCAL in administering the Award.
- The Overseers shall assess how well the Program is achieving its mission.
- The Overseers shall produce an annual report for the AHCA/NCAL Board of Governors to assess the Program’s accomplishments, activities, funding, and key process and performance metrics. The annual report shall include recommendations regarding improvements.
Code of Ethical Standards:
Members of the Board of Overseers are guided by a Code of Ethical Standards to avoid conflict between the personal interest of Board members and/or the organizations with which they are affiliated, and the interests of the National Quality Award Program. A violation of the Code of Ethical Standards shall be cause for resignation or removal. An Overseer may be removed from the Board by majority vote of the other Overseers.
Code of Ethical Standards Policy
The Board of Overseers’ Code of Ethical Standards policy is designed to help Board members and AHCA staff to identify situations that present potential conflicts of interest and provide procedures to address actual and potential conflicts of interest so as to protect the interests of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. All Board members will be required to sign a Code of Ethical Standards statement annually and if the statement is not signed within 30 days, they shall be ineligible to hold office. The Board of Overseers may impose such requirements and remedies, to include removal of a member from the Board or censure of such member, on itself and its members as it may deem necessary and appropriate to address issues of conflicts of interest, ethics, attendance, and other similar matters that in the sole discretion of the Board of Overseers bear upon open, effective, and representative governance.
Any member of the Board of Overseers who may be involved in situations in which there is a possible conflict of interest shall promptly notify the Chair. The Board member shall refrain from voting on any such issue, participating in deliberations concerning it, or using personal influence in any way in the matter. The Board member’s presence may not be counted in determining the quorum for any vote with respect to a decision in which he or she has a possible conflict of interest. Furthermore, the Board member, or the Chair in the Board member’s absence, shall disclose a potential conflict of interest to the other members of the Board before any vote, and such disclosure shall be recorded in the meeting record at which it is made. The Board Chair shall ask members if any have a conflict of interest.
A written disclosure regarding any possible conflicts and of any adjustments made to avoid possible conflicts of interest shall be kept by the Board Chair and submitted to the AHCA Quality Committee.
Ethical Considerations in Composition of the Board of Overseers
Membership of the Board of Overseers should be balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed. Appropriate provisions should also ensure that the advice and recommendations of the Board will not be inappropriately influenced by any special interest, but will instead be the result of the Board’s independent judgment.
The members of the Board of Overseers should be selected in order to provide expertise and to represent the diverse groups that have an interest in sustaining the credibility of the program. The overall balance of the Board’s composition should be sufficient to ensure that any one person cannot create an undue influence that would affect the credibility of the Board.
Declaration of Principles
If I were to become a member of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Board of Overseers, I would pledge to uphold professional principles in the fulfillment of the responsibilities associated with this position, including the promotion of high standards of public service and ethical conduct. Board members:
- Shall conduct themselves professionally, with truth, accuracy, fairness, and responsibility;
- Shall not represent conflicting or competing interests, nor place themselves in such a position where the members’ interest may be in conflict, or appear to be in conflict, with the purposes and the administration of the Award;
- Shall not offer confidential information or disclosures which may in any way influence the Award integrity or process, currently or in the future;
- Shall not serve any private or special interest in fulfillment of the duties of a Board member, therefore excluding, by definition, the participant in a decision related to matters before the Board of any company, division, or business unit of which he/she is employed or of which a consulting arrangement is in effect or anticipated; and
- Shall not intentionally communicate false or misleading information which may compromise the integrity of the Award process or decisions therein.
Questions?
Please contact Courtney Krier, Quality Award Program Manager, American Health Care Association, at ckrier@ahca.org or by phone at (202) 898-2857.