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Stephanie Mercado

CEO Executive Director

Stephanie Mercado is a leader in healthcare association management and advancing healthcare professions. Since joining NAHQ in December 2013, CPHQ certification candidates have grown by over 95% in the last six years and membership by almost 50%. Stephanie has increased NAHQ’s prominence and value in the healthcare quality space, with the introduction of industry-elevating initiatives such as the award-winning Healthcare Quality Competencies Framework and the National Healthcare Quality Summit.  In partnership with NAHQ’s Board of Directors, and an outstanding staff and volunteer team, Stephanie led the development of the profession’s first ever comprehensive Healthcare Quality Competency Framework, and the profession’s first ever Workforce Study, offering critical insights to workforce development opportunities for healthcare quality and safety professionals. Stephanie speaks nationally on NAHQ’s behalf about the critical need to reduce variability in healthcare quality competencies, and the intense training needs that are in-play with the decreasing shelf-life of skills in the rapidly evolving healthcare market.

Stephanie has deep knowledge of healthcare issues gained from almost 20 years in association leadership roles, supporting both practitioners and healthcare executives. She has led the development of healthcare competencies and medical curriculum models, certifications, professional development and training programs, and advocacy efforts for societies and professions. Stephanie is a sought-after expert on healthcare association management and the topic of preparing the healthcare quality workforce to delivery on quality, safety and value. She has served on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Steering Committee for Patient Safety, the Association Forum Healthcare Collaborative Steering Committee, and is a board member of the Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), and more. In 2018, Stephanie was selected as a recipient of the Outstanding Nonprofit Leader Award from .orgCommunity.