Excellence in Patient Experience Award

The awards nomination campaign will launch on October 1, at which time the online nomination form and the nomination template will become available.

The Award

This award is focused on honouring organizations and individuals who have set in place innovations that improve the human experience in healthcare. The Excellence in Patient Experience Award will highlight and recognize innovations that have made a change to how patients, residents, clients, their families, and communities experience healthcare services. Demonstrable improvements in or impact on culture, quality, safety and/or financial indicators will be used to determine the recipient of this award. Please note, when patient is referenced within this document it is considered inclusive of patients, residents, clients, their families and communities.

The winner will receive an etched glass trophy. Should the future permit us to return to an in-person event, one representative of the winning organization will also receive paid travel and accommodations to attend the College’s Honouring Health Leadership event, and a complimentary registration to the CCHL National Conference.

Eligibility

Individuals and teams operating in Canada are eligible for this award. Eligible candidates must quantify the impact of their innovations and actions in the following areas:

  • Patient experience and culture of inclusion: This can include, but not be limited to organizational structures that engage and support patients, caregivers and families, use of electronic tools or media to support continuous engagement with patients, caregivers and families as well as organizational processes that elevate the collaborative efforts of patients, caregivers, families, staff and communities in the planning and delivery of care;
  • Training and development of staff, clinicians, Medical Staff, patients, caregivers and families to support a culture of innovation and excellence in the planning for and delivery of high quality patient and family centered care;
  • Quality of care over a minimum of 12 months. This would include tangible performance or process improvements in clinical outcomes (e.g. hospital or facility acquired infections, falls, length of stay (LOS), alternate levels of care (ALC)), performance outcomes (e.g. patient experience rates) and other indicators that would demonstrate quality improvements (e.g. enhanced foundation revenues, decreased workplace injuries); and
  • The extent to which a high performance patient experience aligns with all other aspects of the healthcare enterprise (e.g. the satisfaction and engagement scores of staff, clinicians and medical staff).

Nominations

Nominations must be made by a member of the College and be submitted by February 1.

Nominations must be submitted as one PDF file via the team and organization award online form and include the following:

  • The completed nomination form (to be complete online).
  • Using the nomination template, please ensure to include:
    • Comprehensive description of the innovation and/or action to be highlighted.
    • Data which quantifies the impact of the innovation or action to be highlighted.
    • Plan to continue to support and/or enhance the innovation and action in the longer term to ensure that the organization “holds the gains”.
  • Two letters of supports from patients, caregivers and/or families.
  • Letter of support from the nominee’s chief executive officer or C-level designate that is a member of the College.

2023 Recipient: Provincial Health Services Authority

The Patient Experience and Community Engagement team at the BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS) sought to disrupt the traditional model of care to better serve a hard-to-reach patient population in need.

Through data exploration, they imagined a new approach that prioritized patient empowerment and trauma-informed care over a custodial nature of care. This shift in approach placed the power of family and community as an extension of the care team and moved from asking patients, “what’s the matter?” to a simple, but profound change in wording: “What matters to you?”. The success of this team in their approach has been impressive, both in meaningful process and improved outcomes for patients. 


The new approach developed by the Patient Experience and Community Engagement team at BCMHSUS has been successful and replicable, with other mental health and substance use teams adopting similar approaches. The approach involves increased involvement of patient partners in decision-making, patient and family leadership, and peer worker hiring. 

Past Recipients

Please see our most recent recipients listed below. Full details are available in our Celebrating Leading Practices booklets.

2023 – Provincial Health Services Authority

2022 – Island Health

2021 – Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de Laval

2020 – Hamilton Health Sciences

2019 – Humber River Hospital

Excellence in Patient Experience Award Selection Committee

List of Awards

For almost two decades, the National Awards Program has been showcasing the success of exemplary individuals and teams, encouraging knowledge exchange, and celebrating excellence while stimulating replication of leading practices across the health industry.