The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) announced its new board members: Carole Guinane, RN BA MBA CPHQ, Cedars-Sinai, as its 2020 president; Marian Savage, MSN RN NEA-BC CPHQ PMP, Virginia Hospital Center, as president-elect; and Patricia Kirkpatrick, MJ RN CPHQ, Amerigroup Community Care/Anthem, as secretary/treasurer.
“Carole, Marian, Patricia and the entire NAHQ Board represent strong leaders in healthcare quality who are leading the way as NAHQ aims to advance foundational and universal competency standards for the healthcare quality workforce,” said Stephanie Mercado, CAE, NAHQ CEO and executive director.
Guinane, executive director at Cedars-Sinai, has more than 25 years of healthcare quality experience in senior leadership roles, where she has increased revenues and market share and achieved reduced costs. She has created and implemented strategic and restructuring plans, including a system-wide orthopedic strategic plan for a not-for-profit healthcare organization in Virginia that resulted in 3.1 percent overall orthopedic system volume growth.
“Knowing that my work makes a difference in the lives of patients is incredibly rewarding,” said Guinane. “NAHQ does not advocate for change just for the sake of change, but rather instills change that matters the most, advancing a coordinated, competent healthcare quality workforce.”
Savage, associate vice president at Virginia Hospital Center, has strong skills for analyzing existing processes and implementing innovative and compliant reforms to vastly improve patient services and outcomes. She is responsible for overall quality, infection prevention and patient safety operations and budget. In addition, she sets the strategic direction for compliance and regulatory initiatives.
“NAHQ’s vision is that the healthcare quality profession is recognized and valued as essential,” said Savage. “This is such important work as we take quality to the next level and while we have made tremendous strides in this area, there is still much work to be done.”
Kirkpatrick, quality director for Amerigroup Community Care/Anthem, TN, has expertise in regulatory compliance, health policy, team building and building metrics-driven systems improving overall population health within all aspects of the healthcare system. In her current role, she has contributed to the organization receiving a number of Medicaid recognitions.
“NAHQ continues to increase access to new tools and resources that support healthcare quality professionals and raise awareness of the benefits of earning our gold-standard certification, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)," said Kirkpatrick. “Serving on the NAHQ Board leverages me to do my part to support programs that benefit our professionals and help ensure that we have a coordinated, competent healthcare quality workforce that can reduce expenses, improve patient safety and deliver on the promise of value.”
