The award honors groups who are transforming their organizations to incorporate the six Institute for Medicine aims and provide health care that is:

• Safe - avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them
• Effective - providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit (avoiding underuse and overuse)
• Patient Centered - providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values and ensuring that patient values guide all decisions
• Timely - reducing waits and sometimes harmful delays for both those who receive and those who give care
• Efficient - avoiding waste, in particular waste of equipment, supplies, ideas and energy
• Equitable - providing care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, geographic location and socioeconomic status

Park Nicollet received the award for applying Toyota lean production techniques to enhance patient care.

Since the award was started in 1999, Park Nicollet has earned the top award four of six years, while earning the honoree position the other two years.