Resource Library-Quality Workforce of the Future

Video Transcription

Video Summary

NAICU CEO Stephanie Mercado reflects on leading through year two of COVID, noting the uncertainty and ongoing surges that continue to challenge healthcare. She praises healthcare quality professionals for “running into the burning building” by rapidly adapting to remote work, PPE shortages, real-time reporting, and operational disruptions—often while also supporting clinical care. NAICU’s research shows a rising sense of value among quality professionals (from 36% in July 2020 to 51% in July 2021), driven by their training, tools, and purpose.<br /><br />Mercado describes NAICU’s decision not to “hunker down” during the pandemic, but to expand support: more certification opportunities (CPHQ), more resources, and a focus on professional development through its healthcare quality competency framework (“the wheel”), with eight domains and hundreds of skills. NAICU’s Workforce Accelerator helps organizations assess competencies, target upskilling, and connect workforce capability to outcomes like Leapfrog and CMS ratings.<br /><br />She highlights megatrends shaping the future—global workforce shortages, an aging population, and AI/automation—and argues for a shift from traditional training to intentional “skilling” tied to job impact and credential verification. In Q&A, she explains how to use the wheel, NAICU’s expansion beyond hospitals, efforts to reduce friction in hiring requirements, benchmarking initiatives, and how attendees can access on-demand conference content.

Asset Caption

Speaker: Stephanie Mercado, CAE CPHQ

NAHQ like every other business, mission and person on the planet faced a challenge:. A a global pandemic. We did not know what to expect, how long it would last or where the bottom would be. But one thing was clear: our purpose. And that was to advance quality and safety through the workforce and to leverage the profession of healthcare quality – through competencies. The events of 2020 highlighted the need for a focus on population health, equity, payment models, quality measures and metrics, safety, and more. And, we know that healthcare quality professionals stepped up and were recognized and celebrated. Join Stephanie Mercado, NAHQ’s CEO and executive director as she shares her insights into how skilling and reskilling the quality workforce can propel organizational transformation.

Meta Tag

Competency Tag PE2

Competency Tag Description Engage in lifelong learning that supports healthcare quality and safety.

Domain Tag Professional Engagement

Keywords

NAICU

Stephanie Mercado

COVID-19 healthcare leadership

healthcare quality professionals

CPHQ certification

healthcare quality competency framework

Workforce Accelerator

workforce shortages and aging population

AI automation in healthcare