HRET Selects Maureen Bisognano as 2012 TRUST Award Recipient

Chicago—The Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA), selected Maureen Bisognano, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), as the recipient of the 2012 TRUST Award. Established in 2003, the TRUST Award honors individuals who have exhibited visionary leadership in the health care field and who symbolize HRET’s mission to use research and education to improve health care quality in policy and practice.

“As a CEO and educator, Maureen touches all facets of health care,” said John G. O’Brien, president and CEO, UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, Mass. and chair of the HRET Board of Trustees. “With her drive to spread and implement health care improvement throughout the United States and globally, she is an incredible voice for patients. Under her leadership, IHI continues to produce seminal information for the health care community, while constantly inspiring, motivating and preparing leaders for change.”

“Maureen is a tireless advocate for change,” said HRET President Maulik S. Joshi, DrPH. “Her impact is timely as we work to improve health care systems that benefit the lives of patients and the health of our communities.”

Bisognano advises health care leaders around the world. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and serves on the Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System. Bisognano is also an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston and research associate in the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Additionally, she serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and Mayo Clinic Health System-Eau Claire.

Prior to joining IHI, Bisognano was senior vice president of the Juran Institute, a quality improvement research organization. There she consulted with senior management on the implementation of total quality management in health care settings. Before that, she served as chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital in Braintree, Mass., where she implemented a hospital-wide strategic plan that improved the quality of care while simultaneously reducing costs.

Bisognano began her career in health care in 1973 as a nurse at Quincy Hospital in Quincy, Mass. She held positions of increasing responsibility there, eventually serving as chief operating officer from 1984-1987. She holds a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of the State of New York and a master’s of science degree from Boston University.

This is the 10th year of the TRUST Award. HRET will honor Bisognano at a reception on July 19 in San Francisco, during the Health Forum/American Hospital Association Leadership Summit.

About the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET)
Founded in 1944, the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) is the not-for-profit research and educational affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA). HRET’s mission is to transform health care through research and education. HRET’s applied research seeks to create new knowledge, tools, and assistance in improving the delivery of health care by providers in the communities they serve. For more information about HRET, visit www.hret.org.

About the TRUST Award
The TRUST Award is presented annually by HRET to a health care leader who has made significant contributions to improving the health care delivery system. Previous recipients include David Lawrence, MD, retired chairman and CEO, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (2003); Don Berwick, MD, former president and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2004); Brent James, MD, vice president for medical research, Intermountain Health Care (2005); Gail Warden, president emeritus, Henry Ford Health System and former chairman of HRET and the American Hospital Association (2006); Janet Corrigan, PhD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum (2007); Robert H. Brook, MD, ScD, FACP, vice president at the RAND Corporation and director of RAND Health (2008); David Satcher, MD, PhD, director of the Center of Excellence on Health Disparities and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (2009); Glenn D. Steele, Jr., MD, PhD, president and CEO of Geisinger Health System (2010); and Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health (2011).