SHM has been tapped for the 2011 John M. Eisenberg Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality at the National Level award for its mentored-implementation model.

The award, given by the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission marks the first time a professional society has been given the honor, according to an NQF spokeswoman.

The model links mentors with constituent hospitals to help push quality improvement models tied to transitional care, glycemic control, and VTE prevention. Mentors have been put in place in more than 300 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, according to the award announcement.

“There are significant congratulations [due] to the profession and all the people at the society who have done all the work on this,” says SHM President Joseph Ming-Wah Li, MD, SFHM. “Part of what we’ve been saying all along is that quality is important. In terms of teaching quality—it’s a real team effort.”