Newswise — WASHINGTON (July 10, 2013) – Urgent Matters, Blue Jay Consulting, and Schumacher Group are now accepting submissions for the 2014 Emergency Care Innovation of the Year Award, a competition to foster innovation in emergency departments nationwide.

The Emergency Care Innovation of the Year Award, also supported by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), provides an opportunity for multidisciplinary teams to be acknowledged for their outstanding contributions in emergency medicine. The award also provides a platform for disseminating effective solutions to common issues facing the emergency care community. Submissions should fit into at least one of the following categories:

- Safety and quality- Flow and efficiency- Care coordination- Patient experience- Cost consciousness

The contest closes on July 31. To be eligible for consideration, the innovation must include a measurable assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention. One member of the winning team will receive the honor of presenting their innovation at the Urgent Matters Conference, Innovations in Patient Safety, to be held at the American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly in Chicago, Oct. 26.

For more information on eligibility and to download the submission form, visit smhs.gwu.edu/urgentmatters/toolkit/award.

All submitted tools that meet entry criteria will be posted to the Urgent Matters online searchable toolkit, a collection of strategies and tools developed by hospitals across the country to target specific issues facing hospital emergency departments. The toolkit is available at smhs.gwu.edu/urgentmatters/toolkit.

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About Urgent MattersUrgent Matters is a national initiative dedicated to finding, developing and delivering strategies to improve patient flow and reduce emergency department crowding. Urgent Matters has a long standing reputation for producing unbiased content from a multi‐disciplinary perspective. Through educational activities such as enewsletters, web seminars, podcasts, online tools, and conferences, Urgent Matters disseminates best practices for emergency care. Urgent Matters is managed by the Office of Clinical Practice Innovation at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. For more information, visit www.urgentmatters.org.

About Blue Jay ConsultingBlue Jay Consulting is comprised of nationally recognized emergency care experts who implement effective, lasting changes to optimize service and throughput in hospital emergency departments. Blue Jay creates outcome-oriented solutions and achieves quantifiable results through process improvement services and enhanced interim leadership. Blue Jay Consulting empowers hospitals to be the best they can be. For further information, please visit www.bluejayconsulting.com.

About Schumacher GroupCaring for some 4 million patients annually, Schumacher Group is one of the largest emergency medical staffing and management companies in the U.S, as well as a health care resource for Hospital Medicine, Wellness Programs, Care Management, Urgent Care, and Billing & Coding. For more information, visit www.schumachergroup.com.