Touchstone Award Winners
2026 Gold Touchstone Awards
| Closing the Gap in SNF Authorization – A Multidisciplinary Care Management Approach | Greater Charlotte |
| Driving Improvement: A Hospital-Wide Quality Initiative to Reduce Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (PSI-03) | Illinois |
| First-in-Hospital Turn Team Model Drives a 95% Reduction in Intensive Care Unit Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries | Illinois |
| Reducing AHRQ PSI 12 Perioperative Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis Rate in Adult Surgical Patients | Illinois |
| Reducing Readmission and Sustaining Mortality Through Physician Engagement and Multidisciplinary Specialty Care Integration by Targeting Frequent Readmissions and in High-Risk Sepsis, COPD, and Heart Failure Populations | Illinois |
| Restoring Patient Access Through Physician Advisor-Supported Infusion Appeals | NC/GA Division |
| Seal the Deal: Reducing Bleeding & Improving Hemodialysis Outcomes – Prophylactic Hemostatic Disc Use for CLABSI Prevention in Inpatient Dialysis | Wake |
| Standardized Respiratory Navigation for Hypoventilation: Reducing Readmissions Through Closed-Loop Inpatient-to-Outpatient Care | Wake |
| The Buddy System: A Team Approach to Reducing Contaminated Blood Cultures | Wake |
| Treating in Place Reducing Skilled Nursing Readmissions with Daily High-Risk Patient Visits 2026 | WI/IL Division |
2026 Silver Touchstone Awards
| A Quality Improvement Initiative to Achieve Recommended Abdominal Ultrasound Screening in Children with Cystic Fibrosis | Greater Charlotte |
| Closing the Gap: Reducing Readmissions Through Standardized Disease-Specific Discharge Education | Illinois |
| Early Discharge Orders, Better Throughput: A 7 South Pilot at Christ Medical Center | Illinois |
| From Variation to Reliability: Standardizing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Education to Reduce Readmissions in a Community Hospital | Illinois |
| Functionality, Utility, Necessity and Number of Accesses: “FUNN” central line discussions are associated with fewer central line-associated blood stream infections | Illinois |
| Implementation of Dedicated Turn Teams to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs) | Wisconsin |
| Improving Capture of Comorbid Condition Documentation in Hospital Medicine to Enhance Clinical Outcomes, Coding Accuracy, and Care Delivery | Wake |
| Improving HPV Vaccine Series Completion Through an Equity-Focused School Based Health Center Initiative | Illinois |
| Inquiry to Sustainment: Driving Improvement to Reduce Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections at Advocate Christ Medical Center (ACMC) | Illinois |
| Keeping Mothers and Babies Together: Transforming Evidence-Based Newborn Feeding Practices Through an Interdisciplinary Donor Human Milk Initiative | Greater Charlotte |
| More Than Screening: Building a Food Security Pathway in Pediatric Sickle Cell Care | Greater Charlotte |
| Reducing Unexpected Newborn Complications Through Respiratory Therapy–Driven Process Improvement in Level III Neonatal ICU | Greater Charlotte |
| Safe Reduction of Primary Cesarean Section Rates at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center | Floyd |
| Sit & HEAR: A Pediatric Emergency Department Quality Improvement Framework to Improve Provider Listening and Patient Experience | Wake |
| Skin-To-Skin: First Contact | Navicent |
| SPARK: Seizure Plan for Action and Readiness in Kids -- Improving Seizure Action Plan Completion for Hospitalized Children Using Quality Improvement Methodology | Illinois |
| Strengthening Actions to Support the Diagnosis and Care of Patients with Sepsis and Adherence to the Center for Medicaid Services (CMS) Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Bundle (SEP-1) | Illinois |
| The Anchor Program: Creating a Culture of Caring Connections & Well-Being in Academic Medicine | Enterprise |
| Vital Patient Flow | Navicent |
| When “No” Meant Redesign: Advocacy, PDSA, and Community Partnership Rebuilt Mammography Access for All | Greater Charlotte |
2026 Bronze Touchstone Awards
| A Multimodal, Nurse-Led Strategy to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries | Wisconsin |
| Advancing Primary Care: Heart Failure GDMT Optimization Service | NC/GA Division |
| Algorithmic Insulin Management for Pediatric Hyperglycemic Crises: Expanding Precision Metabolic Control to All Pediatric Ages | Navicent |
| Building a Reliable, Multidisciplinary Pressure Injury Prevention System | Greater Charlotte |
| Curly Hair Kits Program: Advancing Culturally Responsive, Whole-Person Care | Enterprise |
| Enhancing Patient Safety Through Standardized Surgical Specimen Handling | Illinois |
| Enhancing Performance and Confidence in Ambulatory Cardiology Healthcare Workers Through Rapid-Cycle Deliberate Practice in Mock Code Simulations-A Quality Improvement Project | Wisconsin |
| Enhancing SSI Surveillance Accuracy Through Multidisciplinary Validation | Wake |
| From Rookie to Pro: The Evolution of the ICU Quarterback as the Centralized Decision Maker in an Innovative Critical Care Triage and Transfer Program | NC/GA Division |
| Improving Consistency and Equity in Emergency General Surgery Discharge Instructions | NC/GA Division |
| Improving Integration of Intake and Output (IO) into Patient Care for Hospitalized Children | Illinois |
| Improving Present at the Time of Surgery (PATOS) Documentation to Assure Accurate Reporting of the Standard Infection Ratio (SIR) | Greater Charlotte |
| Keeping Smart Pumps Smart: Reducing Medication Risk Through Timely Drug Library Updates | Illinois |
| Line by Line: Rounding to Prevent CLABSI at Advocate Children’s Hospital | Illinois |
| Little Kidneys, Big Responsibility: Pediatric CRRT Reimagined | Greater Charlotte |
| One Team, One Message: Standardizing Interdisciplinary Communication to Improve Perioperative Safety, Reliability, and Operational Outcomes | Illinois |
| Partners in Punctuality: Engaging Surgeons and Teammates for First Case On-Time Starts | Greater Charlotte |
| Ready, Set, Flow! Advancing Zero Harm Through a Nurse-Driven Urinary Retention Guideline | Greater Charlotte |
| Redesigning Fall Prevention: A Collaborative Virtual Nursing Model to Reduce Inpatient Falls | Greater Charlotte |
| Redose to Reduce: Optimizing Surgical Site Infection Prevention through Timely Prophylactic Antibiotic Redosing | Wake |
| Reducing PSI-12 Through an Interdisciplinary CDI and Nursing Leadership Partnership | Illinois |
| Reduction of In-Person Sitter Utilization on Renal Medical Surgical Unit (Unit Tower 5) Within 12 Biweekly Pay Periods Through Safe Alternative Monitoring and Interdisciplinary Collaboration | WI/IL Division |
| Review, Redesign, Results: Improving ABMC's Mortality Risk-Adjusted Index | Wisconsin |
| Sterile Processing: Improving Surgical Tray Availability and Usability | Wisconsin |
| Surgical Site Infection Colon Reduction Through a Multidisciplinary Approach and Sustainability at Advocate Christ Medical Center | Illinois |
| Sustained Elimination of CLABSI Through High-Reliability and Multidisciplinary Innovation | Wisconsin |
| The Sweet Spot: Perioperative Glycemic Control for Every Patient | Wake |
| Timing from Intussusception Diagnosis to Intervention | Wake |
| Turn Teams: A Multifactorial Approach to Sustainable Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury Prevention on a Neurosurgical Progressive Unit | Greater Charlotte |
| What Matters for Older Patients with Cancer: Embedding Geriatric Principles to Enhance Care | Greater Charlotte |
| Zero-Hour Extended Downtime Game | Enterprise |
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2025 Gold Touchstone Awards
| Facility | Project Title |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Improving Perioperative Emergency Response through Practice Change and Simulation |
| Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center | Improving Outcomes to Reduce Mortality Through: Physician Mortality Reviews and Continuous Physician Education on Palliative Care, Hospice Care, and Sepsis Bundle COMPLIANCE |
| Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center | Timely Advocacy: Aligning Patient Values and System Objectives by Using an RN Screening Tool to Advocate for Early Palliative Care |
| Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center | Jump on Board with “Rapid Intake”: Redefining care delivery in the Emergency Department to reduce the effects of boarding and improve Patient Safety at Carolinas Medical Center |
| Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center | Establishing a Sepsis Program at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Emergency Department |
| Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center | Novel Use of Surgeon’s Intraoperative Data Improves Patient Outcomes for Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery |
| Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center | All Hands-on Deck: A Multidisciplinary Team Driving Prevention of Central-Line Associated Bloodstream Infections |
| Atrium Health Levine Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital | Ventilator Associated Event (VAE) Reduction Utilizing Bundle Sets in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit |
| Atrium Health Levine Children's Specialty Center | Creating Safe Spaces in Pediatrics: A Roadmap for Emotional Health |
| Atrium Health Union | Decreasing CLABSI Prevention Misses: Secure Chat Photography to ensure CLABSI Prevention Guidelines |
2025 Silver Touchstone Awards
| Facility | Project Title |
| IL & WI Medical Group | Guiding Progress: The Patient Experience Navigation Map |
| Advocate Children's Hospital | Breaking Babel: Implementing a Universal Interpreter Symbol at the Bedside for Equitable Care |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Silent Threat, Strategic Response: Pioneering C. auris Screening for Safer Care |
| Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center | Freezing Chemo Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Its Tracks |
| Atrium Health Cabarrus | Pharmacist Involvement in Outpatient Heart Failure Management |
| Atrium Health Cabarrus | No Crumb in Bed: A Nurse-Led Initiative to Improve Mealtime Mobility |
| Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital | Sepsis Stops Here: Bundle Up for Better Outcomes (Improving Pediatric Sepsis Bundle Compliance at Levine Children’s Hospital) |
| Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital | Get Moving to Get Snoozing! |
| Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital | Breastmilk Administration in the Neonatal Departments |
| Atrium Health Levine Children's Primary Care Pediatrics | Enhancing Patient Safety through Vaccine Medication Scanning in Primary Care Pediatrics |
| Atrium Health Navicent Peach | Sustaining the Elimination of Hospital Acquired Infections |
| Atrium Health Pineville | TeamBirth: Implementing a Care Process for Improving Interdisciplinary Communication & Maternal Outcomes at Atrium Health Pineville |
| Atrium Health Pineville | Virtual Discharge Follow-up Reducing COPD 30-Day Readmissions |
| Atrium Health Pineville | Impact of a Daily Device Safety Huddle (DSH) on Device Utilization and Infections |
| Atrium Health Pineville | Utilizing a Multi-System Approach to Enhance Hospital Safety Culture Through the Reduction of Serious Safety Events |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center | CLABSI Reduction Through a CHG Treatment Refusal Escalation Pathway |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center | No More Chillin' in the OR - Patient Warming Technologies: Enhancing Perioperative Care and Outcomes at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | Reducing PJ Paralysis: Promoting Mobility, Dignity and Recovery Through Patient Engagement on an Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) Unit |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | Improve Access to Breast Cancer Care: APP Intake Visits at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | Implementation of the GutCheckNEC with Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) Checklist in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) |
| Aurora Medical Center - Oshkosh | Surgical Site Infection/Hand Hygiene/Room Cleanliness |
| Aurora St. Luke's South Shore | A Picture Worth a Thousand Words for HAPI Prevention |
| Child Advocacy Centers (Cabarrus, CMC, Union, Stanly) | Silent Struggles: Enhancing Depression Detection and Response in Child Advocacy Centers |
| Enterprise | Standardized Nurse Residency to Achieve Excellence, Meet National Standards, and Surpass Organizational Needs |
| NC & GA Division | From Prescription to Prevention: Emergency Medicine Pain and Addiction QI, A Data-Driven Path Through the Opioid Crisis |
2025 Bronze Touchstone Awards
| Facility | Project Title |
| Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge | Reducing Unplanned Extubation Rates by Enhancing Chest X-Ray Film Quality Through Multidisciplinary Collaboration |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Advocate Christ Medical Center Incomplete ED Visit Reduction |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Kidney Transplant Perioperative Process Improvement |
| Advocate Christ Medical Center | Elevating Operating Room Orientation to Onboarding: Strengthening Team Engagement and Surgical Safety |
| Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center | Driving Improvement: A Hospital-Wide Strategy to Reduce Nurse Sensitive Indicators (NSIs) |
| Atrium Health Cabarrus | Pedal Movement |
| Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center | “Frontline Booty Inspectors (FBI) in Action: No Pressure, No Problem” |
| Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital | Safe Beginnings: A Cribside Approach to Improving Sleep Safety in the Newborn Nursery |
| Atrium Health Lincoln | Reimagining Prevention: A Critical Care Initiative to Prevent Pressure Injuries |
| Atrium Health Mobile Medicine | The UA Program—Clinically Driving Capacity |
| Atrium Health Navicent Peach | Implementation of Bedside Shift Report for Emergency Department |
| Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center | Puppy Love: Barkley IS a Code Lavender! |
| Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center | From Prolonged to Proactive: A LOS Success Story |
| Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center | Tenecteplase Administration: Door-to-Needle Time |
| Atrium Health Pineville | Optimizing Sepsis Management: A Journey from Audit to EHR Solutions |
| Atrium Health Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute | Preventing Cardiac Events in the Chronic Limb Ischemia Population with Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography |
| Atrium Health Stanly | Reducing Length of Stay in the Behavioral Health Unit with a Focus on Major Depressive Disorder Diagnosis Patients |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | Rethinking End-Of-Life Care Diagnostics: Cessation of Blood Culture Testing |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center | What Matters Most: Standardizing Whiteboard Communication and Rounding to Improve Patient Experience |
| Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center - High Point Medical Center | Ticket to Test |
| Aurora Lakeland Medical Center | Improving Inpatient Flow: Reducing ED Decision-to-Admission Time Through a Standardized Report Window |
| Aurora Medical Center Burlington | Leading the Way: Best Practices for Falls Prevention |
| Greater Charlotte | Mitigating Maternal Mortality: Implementing an Innovative Approach for Case Reviews in an Electronic Database |
| Greater Charlotte | Joint Effort: Partnering Across Disciplines to Increase Early Mobility for Patients After Total Hip or Knee Arthroplasty |
| IL Division & WI Division | Zeroing in on Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs): The IL & WI Division Nurse-Led CAUTI Collaborative’s Journey to Improving Patient Outcomes |
| IL Division & WI Division Ambulatory Primary Care | Advocate Aurora Medical Group Quality Improvement Orientation Redesign |