The Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill, and the National Quality Forum (NQF), Washington, DC, are accepting applications for the 2008 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards, which recognize individuals and health care organizations making key contributions in improving the safety and quality of patient care.

Nominees must be focused on improving patient safety or the quality of health care, leadership in advancing methods for measuring and reporting health care quality, expanding the public’s capacity to evaluate the quality and safety of health care, and promoting health care choices based on information about safety and quality. 

Nomination forms are available at www.jointcommission.org and www.qualityforum.org. The deadline for nominations is April 14, 2008. Awards are presented annually in up to four categories, such as individual achievement and project-related achievements in research and innovation in patient safety and quality at the national and local level.

The awards honor the memory of Dr Eisenberg, a nationally recognized leader in health care quality improvement who advocated for health care that meets the needs and perspectives of patients. Eisenberg, who died in 2002, spearheaded national efforts to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety as director of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Mail completed forms to Linda Hanold, director, Department of Quality Measurement, The Joint Commission, One Renaissance Blvd, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill, 60181. The awards will be presented at the NQF National Policy Conference on Quality October 15-16, 2008 in Washington, DC.