Each year, RISE recognizes two esteemed health care professionals for making a significant impact on the health care industry. Nominations will be accepted for the annual awards through December 31.
RISE is accepting nominations for its two annual awards: the 2025 Martin L. Block Award for Innovation & Excellence and the 2025 Health Care Hero Award. Nominations for both awards are due by December 31.
The Dr. Martin L. Block Award
The Dr. Martin L. Block Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant impact in the lives of America’s seniors through clinical leadership, policy vision, and through superior example of the RISE mission to promote continuous improvement in the health care system.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Block, a regular speaker at RISE National who passed away from brain cancer at the age of 62 on Oct. 28, 2013. The prestigious quality award was established and first presented in 2014 in recognition of his contributions to innovations in risk adjustment and to honor his life’s work. In recent years, the award has been bestowed to Dr. Amy Boutwell, founder and president, Collaborative Healthcare Strategies; Elizabeth Haynes, director of risk adjustment and Stars for government programs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (BlueKC); Dr. Tiffany C. Pankow, associate chief medical officer, HonorHealth Medical Group; and Dr. Heather O'Toole, chief medical officer, Innovation Care Partners.
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To submit a colleague for consideration, the nomination must include the following criteria:
- Nominee must work within the clinical field as an M.D., NP, RN, PA, DO, or otherwise clinically credentialed
- Nominee should work for a health plan, provider organization, accountable care organization, or vendor/supplier in the health care marketplace
- Nominee must have either contributed to significant process improvement in the care of seniors and/or dedicated 10+ years to exemplary work in this industry
The deadline to submit a nomination is December 31. The award will be presented at RISE National 2025, which will take place March 11-14, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Health Care Hero Award
The award, which was established in 2022, honors an individual who has made a significant impact in the lives of underserved populations through health care and/or social services interventions and through superior example of the RISE mission to promote health equity among all patients. Previous award winners include Dr. Kimberlee Wyche Etheridge, primary care provider and assistant professor, Meharry Medical College, and sr. VP health equity and diversity initiatives ASTHO; Rick Whitted, CEO of U.S. Hunger; and Mariam Merced, MA, director, RWJUH community health promotions, New Brunswick, Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health.
RELATED: Dr. Kimberlee Etheridge named RISE’s 2024 Health Care Hero
To submit a colleague for consideration, the nomination must include the following criteria:
- Nominee must work in a role that addresses social determinants of health
- Nominee must work for one of the following organizations: health plan, health care provider, social services provider/non-profit/CBO, government organization, foundation, pharmaceutical company, or vendor/supplier
- Nominee does not need to have a medical credential to be nominated
- Nominee must have either contributed to significant process improvement in addressing the care of underserved populations and/or dedicated 10+ years to exemplary work in this industry
The deadline to submit a nomination is December 31. Award finalists will be notified by January 31, 2025, and the award will be presented at The 2025 RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health on April 7-9, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.