ICYMI: Quality Award Submission Deadline Extension

AHCA/NCAL has been made aware of a nationwide Microsoft system outage that occurred on January 22, 2026. This outage may have affected some members’ ability to submit their AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award applications. To ensure that all members have the opportunity to submit their Quality Award applications and payments, we are extending the submission deadline one week to Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Starting on Monday, January 26, members can log into the Quality Award Portal and complete their application submission.

The AHCA/NCAL team is committed to ensuring every member has the time and opportunity needed to complete and submit their application. Thank you for your continued dedication to quality improvement and your pursuit of excellence.

A few helpful reminders:

Not all applicants have been affected, and many applications have been received. To verify that your application has already been submitted, you can do one of the following:
1. Confirm that you received a confirmation email titled “2026 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Application and Payment Confirmation” from donotreply@smartsimple.com.
2. Log into the Quality Award Portal, select Current Applications and confirm the status of your 2026 application is “Submitted.”
All applications and payments must be submitted through the Quality Award Portal.
If you encounter any problems with the portal, our Quality Award Portal Resource Center provides a variety of help documents. You’re also always welcome to reach out to our Quality Award team with questions.

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Posted in Assisted Living, Long-Term Care, Professional Resources, Quality Assurance, Skilled Nursing

January 28, 2026