Awards & Recognition

AAAASF was established in 1980 to standardize and improve the quality of health care in outpatient facilities. AAAASF accredits thousands of facilities world-wide, making it one of the largest not-for-profit outpatient accrediting organizations. Physicians, clinicians, legislators, state/federal health agencies and patients acknowledge that AAAASF sets the “Gold Standard in Accreditation.” (www.aaaasf.org)

AORN represents the interests of more than 160,000 perioperative nurses by providing nursing education, standards, and practice resources to enable optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. The Go Clear Award is presented by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to recognize health care facilities that have committed to providing increased surgical patient and health care worker safety by implementing practices that eliminate smoke caused by the use of lasers and electro surgery devices during surgery. (www.aorn.org)

Becker’s Hospital Review is a respected national health care industry publication. Becker's Healthcare editors select hospital awards based on rankings from respected organizations including iVantage Health Analytics, The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the National Rural Health Association, CareChex, Healthgrades and Medicare star ratings. The team also considered the hospital's community impact and reputation for innovation. (www.beckershospitalreview.com)

Hospitals report data to CMS through the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) and Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) programs. This data is inputted into the Star Rating Program, a five-star quality rating system created by CMS, that measures the experiences Medicare beneficiaries have with their health plan and health care system. Hospitals are evaluated for their performance in the areas of patient experience, timeliness and effectiveness of care, complications & deaths, unplanned hospital visits, use of medical imaging, and payment and value of care. The overall hospital rating ranges from 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being the highest. The most common overall hospital rating is 3 stars. (www.cms.gov)

ICAHN is a network of 57 small rural Illinois hospitals dedicated to strengthening the operations of its member hospitals through collaboration. The organization is composed of Illinois hospitals who have earned critical access hospital designation by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. ICAHN is recognized nationally for its work with rural healthcare and administers several state, federal, and private healthcare programs. The ICAHN office is located in Princeton, IL. (www.icahn.org)

IDPH was first organized in 1877 and is responsible for assuring the quality of food, setting the standards for hospital and nursing home care, checking the safety of recreation areas, overseeing the inspection of milk producing farms and processing plants, maintaining the state's vital records and screening newborns for genetic diseases. IDPH has headquarters in Springfield and Chicago with seven regional offices located throughout the state of Illinois. (www.dph.illinois.gov)

The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) was established in 1995 to assist State Offices of Rural Health in their efforts to improve access to, and the quality of, health care for America’s 61 million rural citizens. NOSORH enhances the capacity of SORHs to do this by supporting the development of state and community rural health leaders; creating and facilitating state, regional and national partnerships that foster information sharing and spur rural health-related programs/activities; and enhancing access to quality healthcare services in rural communities. (www.nosorh.org)