Stephanie Mercado, CAE, CPHQ

Stephanie Mercado is the chief executive officer/executive director of the National Association for Healthcare Quality® (NAHQ), the organization at the forefront of elevating the profession and advancing the discipline of healthcare Quality & Safety. NAHQ sets the industry standard and helps individuals and organizations achieve it. The Chicago-based association also offers a strong community and professional home for those who work in healthcare Quality across the country and internationally.

Mercado brings more than 20 years of healthcare industry experience to her lead role at NAHQ. Since joining NAHQ in 2013, she has implemented innovations and introduced methodologies to research and define standardized competencies for the healthcare quality profession. This has resulted in advancement of the discipline of Quality and increased visibility and credibility for the Quality workforce.

Under Mercado’s visionary leadership, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality® (CPHQ) certification has doubled from approximately 7,000 CPHQs to more than 15,000 and NAHQ membership has grown from about 4,500 members to nearly 10,000.

In partnership with NAHQ’s board of directors, staff and volunteers, Mercado is leading the charge to align the industry to a common workforce competency standard for Quality. This endeavor includes the development of a comprehensive, expert-created, twice-validated NAHQ Healthcare Quality Competency Framework™ and the first healthcare Quality & Safety workforce study, offering revealing insight into workforce readiness and outlining critical development opportunities. A builder by nature, Mercado then led the development of Workforce Accelerator®, a scalable organizational solution to assess, upskill and align healthcare workforces in Quality & Safety competencies. Implementation of the program has achieved impressive outcomes including increased capabilities and reduced variability across the workforce, reduced costs, and improved care.

Stephanie is committed to educating leaders on the power and potential of the quality discipline and the impact that a coordinated, competent workforce can make in advancing healthcare. To that end, Mercado is a highly sought-after speaker and author and speaks nationally about strategies to drive Quality in healthcare and improve healthcare outcomes. She is an innovative thought-leader and influencer who contributes insights on the critical need to align to an industry competency standard and the training needs that are vital to delivering high quality, safe care. Mercado currently participates on:

• The Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Steering Committee for Patient Safety
• The Association Forum Healthcare Collaborative steering committee
• The Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Management Education as a board member
• The Patient Safety Movement Foundation as an advisory member
• Patients for Patient Safety US (United States) as an organizational partner working to achieve the World Health Organization Global Patient Safety Action Plan’s strategic objective of health worker education, skills, and safety.

Prior to joining NAHQ, Mercado served in an executive position with the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and supported the American Orthopedic Association.

Mercado holds the CPHQ credential, is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and a Health Evolution Senior Fellow. In 2018, she was recognized by .orgCommunity with the Outstanding Nonprofit Leader Award. In 2023, Modern Healthcare recognized Mercado as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders and she was included in their prestigious “100 most influential people in healthcare” ranking.

Mercado is also a proud “hockey mom” to her two sons, Sam and Ben. She and her husband, Bryan, enjoy spending weekends at their many hockey tournaments.