Daily Dispatch, Day 2: Top performance takes the spotlight
Article | September 17, 2025
Reading time: 9 mins
From purpose to progress: Top Performer Awards mark 20 years of transforming healthcare
As this year’s Top Performer Awards recipients were heralded for their stellar achievements in care quality, there was an air of history that accompanied their triumphant walk to the front of the ballroom. The ceremony began with a nod to the 20-year anniversary of the Vizient Quality & Accountability Study, a “North Star” that revealed the common characteristics of top-performing institutions: a clear sense of purpose, accountable leadership, a focus on results and a culture of collaboration.
On Tuesday, the institutions that embody those essential traits — read more about the honorees in our press release — celebrated not just their wins, but what they mean: better patient outcomes and a stronger, more resilient healthcare ecosystem that can withstand the many challenges inherent in the industry.
The Q&A Study was born from the expertise and dogged research of Vizient Chief Medical Officer David Levine and Julie Cerese, senior vice president, performance management and national networks, who kicked off the Top Performers ceremony with a mini history lesson.
“Back in 2005, we set out to identify what separated top-performing hospitals from the rest,” Cerese told the audience. “Since then, we’ve conducted seven more studies. And while those original principles hold true, we’ve also seen how the story of excellence has evolved. Purpose has grown into shared ownership from the boardroom to the front line. Leadership is not just about vision at the top, but about those who carry it forward every day.”
And above all, she said, “People and culture make the difference.”
Certainly, that sense of shared purpose and camaraderie was on display as peer institutions cheered each honoree and Chief Customer Officer Rand Ballard delivered congratulations. Healthcare is, after all, a team sport — competitive in only the best ways and always collegial.
“As we enter the third decade of this work, these awards remind us to imagine new innovations, stronger teams and healthier communities,” Ballard said. “These are the Academy Awards of healthcare — the highest level of achievement.”
Explore the history of the Q&A Study in our article 20 years of Quality & Accountability: A benchmark for top-performing hospitals and learn how the CQE role is evolving in Leading through disruption: 10 pillars defining the Chief Quality Executive of the future.
Conversation and innovation: partnerships take root at The Connect
At Tuesday’s Connect sessions, suppliers and providers broke out of the traditional conference mold with a reverse expo designed to inspire new possibilities. Suppliers showcased their organization’s unique capabilities, while providers explored innovative solutions and strategies to strengthen care delivery.
“The hardest part of anyone’s job is finding the right people to partner with,” said Justin Sanders, regional business director for release of information, VRC. “Being able to mingle with so many folks from so many different backgrounds, all in one place, creates an opportunity for us to get together more organically.”
More than just an opportunity to present offerings, The Connect served as a true two-way exchange — where collaboration, learning and partnership took center stage in imagining what’s possible for the future of healthcare.
“I think the most valuable piece of this is being able to meet a supplier we haven’t historically worked with and identify opportunities where we can connect and find shared value for both of us,” said Samantha LaMaster, strategic sourcing manager, Nebraska Methodist Health System.
The story unfolds: Tuesday’s top 3 takeaways
1. Collaboration as the new competitive advantage
Partnerships took center stage on Tuesday, reframing the way providers and suppliers think about their roles in transformation. The conversations reinforced a simple truth: Progress in healthcare rarely happens in isolation. Whether it was stress-testing supply chain vulnerabilities, co-developing sustainability pilots or experimenting with digital equity programs, the throughline was clear — real breakthroughs come when stakeholders move from transactional exchanges to joint problem-solving. Collaboration is not just about sharing ideas; it’s about building the trust, governance and shared accountability that turn those ideas into measurable outcomes.
Your top action items:
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For providers:
- Evaluate whether a partnership reduces avoidable utilization — things like preventable ER visits, readmissions or unnecessary inpatient stays. That broader economic impact is now central to decision-making.
- Participate in cross-sector collaborations (e.g., CHARME decarbonization, rural digital health programs) to access shared infrastructure and resources.
- Treat suppliers as strategic allies by co-developing operational models that reduce waste, improve continuity of care and advance health outcomes.
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For suppliers:
- Frame value in terms of total cost of care, not just clinical outcomes. That means helping providers quantify savings and improvements that stretch across the continuum — inpatient, ambulatory, post-acute and community care.
- Use trusted, provider-owned data to prove impact on cost reduction and patient outcomes.
- Offer flexible engagement models that adapt to diverse community, acute and virtual settings.
Discover how a provider-supplier collaboration in hemodynamic monitoring unlocked better outcomes, lowered costs and improved patient care.
2. Redefining leadership in a systemness era
As healthcare systems continue to expand and evolve, leadership is being redefined for a new era of scale and complexity. Tuesday’s sessions explored what it means to lead in an environment where the success of one site or service line depends on how well the entire system works together. Leaders are being called to think beyond silos — aligning governance structures, strengthening workforce models and embedding data transparency across the enterprise. Systemness, as the discussions made clear, is not a buzzword. It is the practical work of creating organizations that operate as cohesive networks rather than fragmented facilities, and it demands a new style of leadership: one that connects strategy to execution at every level.
Your top action items:
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For providers:
- Strengthen governance structures that unify leadership and culture across sites, especially post-merger.
- Expand the role of advanced practice providers (APPs) to address ambulatory access gaps and elevate physician enterprises.
- Empower leaders with real-time dashboards and data-driven decision tools that connect local performance to enterprise outcomes.
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For suppliers:
- Design solutions that scale across entire health systems — from workforce efficiency to service line planning.
- Support governance transitions with scalable integration technology that protects quality performance.
- Share thought leadership, benchmarking and case studies that guide providers on aligning strategy and execution.
Listen to this episode of Knowledge on the Go podcast highlighting the importance of systemness in the recent UMass Memorial Health acquisition of Harrington Hospital.
3. Innovation that meets communities where they are
If there was one defining theme across Tuesday’s conversations, it was this: Innovation only matters if it reaches patients in meaningful ways. The focus shifted from breakthrough technologies alone to models of care delivery that meet people where they live, work and heal. Speakers emphasized that innovation must close gaps, not widen them — whether through paramedicine programs that prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, community health workers guiding diabetes management or AI-enabled tools that make virtual care accessible. Innovation is not just about invention; it’s about responsiveness to community needs, equity in access and the ability to deliver care in settings that feel closest to home.
Your top action items:
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For providers:
- Invest in community-based care models (paramedicine, outpatient rapid assessment centers) that reduce admissions and strain on acute settings.
- Use nurse navigation models to close gaps for vulnerable populations, from oncology patients to survivors of violence.
- Expand service lines with growth strategies aligned to patient demand and workforce deployment.
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For suppliers:
- Develop adaptable tools for resource-constrained communities (scalable monitoring tech, navigation supports).
- Partner with providers to extend care beyond hospital walls, creating shared pathways for post-acute and outpatient management.
- Position solutions around equity and access, showing real-world impact in reducing disparities.
Read how high-performing organizations are reinventing service lines for maximum performance.