The Rx for Excellence Award honors best practices in safety, quality, and risk management in health care. Both BIDMC and BID-Needham have made quality and safety a major priority with the goal of eliminating all preventable harm by 2012.

Sands and Liebman stress that the award belongs to the physicians, nurses, and staff at both institutions. "Implementing quality measures is a team effort," said Sands. "Everyone is responsible for raising our standards and with the ongoing effort of providing patients with the best and safest health care possible."

Liebman agrees. "This is an acknowledgement of our collective hard work in bringing our institutions to a new level of patient care and satisfaction. Part of the excitement for me is knowing that this is just the beginning of an ongoing journey to excellence."

The winners of the Rx for Excellence Award were selected by a group of leaders in the Massachusetts health care community, along with the editorial staff of the Massachusetts Medical Law Report, a state-wide publication for medical professionals about legal news and risk management.

"We are pleased to celebrate patient safety, quality, and risk management in health care," said Susan A. Bocamazo, Esq., publisher of the Massachusetts Medical Law Report. "Our honorees represent the very best in creating safe and effective health care for patients throughout the Commonwealth."