(NCQA: Washington) -- Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund; Vermont Gov. James H. Douglas; international patient safety leader, Dr. Peter Pronovost; Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell; and three Louisiana organizations that improved primary care systems in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina were honored by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) with Health Quality Awards.

The honorable Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and who received the NCQA Health Quality Award in 2007, provided the keynote address. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 23.

“I congratulate these award winners and thank them for their important contributions to our nation’s health care system,” says Secretary Sebelius. “Along with bringing down costs and increasing access, improving the quality of care is a key part of strengthening our health care system so that it works better for American families.”

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