Baldrige National Quality Award for Health Care Organizations
Elaine Reeves
HCA 375 – Ashford University
Paula Arceneaux
December 5, 2011
Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Health care is something commonly visited with my family and me. Having three children in the last seven years, my family and I have had our share of hospital and medical office visits. The quality in care does not go unnoticed as I see many areas that need improvement, as well as other areas that are exemplary. One measure that many organizations utilize is continuous quality improvement (CQI). It is a structured organizational process by which personnel plans and executes a constant flow of improvements ...view middle of the document...
The award promotes excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements of U. S. organizations. This award is a result of The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. This program is the nation’s public-private partnership dedicated to performance excellence (NIST, 2011). The Board of Examiners looks for achievements and improvements that follow the Criteria for Performance Excellence. Baldrige criteria are also values that are defined as guiding principles and behaviors that embody how an organization and its employees are expected to operate and/or perform. These values reflect and reinforce the desired culture of an organization. The following are the criteria under Baldrige’s performance excellence:
* Leadership
* Strategic planning
* Customer focus
* Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management
* Workforce focus
* Operations focus
* Results
This year, three out of the four 2011 Baldrige Award recipients are health care organizations. As stated on the NIST web site (2011), the recipients were selected from a field of 69 applicants. One of the recipients is the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), located in Detroit, Michigan. Henry Ford Health System is one of the nation’s leading complete, integrated health systems. Since 1915, HFHS has committed to deliver quality health care services, and continues to improve the health and well-being of their diverse community. Their health coverage plan (Health Alliance Plan) covers over 467,000 members, and was rated as the top health insurance plans for member satisfaction in Michigan. Customer satisfaction results for the Health Alliance Plan exceeded the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s 90th percentile level from 2007 to 2010. The ambulatory hospitals of HFHS also exceeded the 90th percentile level in a survey by Press Ganey that focuses on improving health care performance. Roughly 80 percent of patients stated that they were likely to recommend HFHS.
Henry Ford Health System received the Baldrige Award for their innovative ideas. Leaders of HFHS used innovative strategies and solutions to help reduce unintended patient harm, and established a “zero-defect, no-excuses” approach to their delivery of health care. Senior leaders used short and long-term planning prospects which balanced improvements in quality care while maintaining and building the organization. In addition to providing excellent health care, HFHS and its staff supported and volunteered in various community service activities such as the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk.
Another recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the Schneck Medical Center (SMC) in Jackson County, Illinois. According to NIST (2011), SMC was recognized for demonstrating high levels of performance concerning patient-focused health care measures. Amid 94 other hospitals in their region, SMC was ranked second in its value-based purchasing (VBP), a method that holds...