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spring 2006

The Baldrige Award: The Journey Is the Win

Q&A: The Nine Principles®:Prescriptive Answers to Non-Prescriptive Criteria

RWJ Hamilton Transformed

CEOs Share Powerful Lessons Learned

SELF-TEST: Can Baldrige Move Your Organization Faster?

take you and your organization to the next level

ISSUE6the Baldrige journey

to performance excellence

What’s the best way to accelerate organization wide results?

CEO, Publisher & Editor-in-ChiefQuint [email protected]

Managing EditorChristina Román [email protected]

Contributing Writers

Paul [email protected]

Debbie [email protected]

Lucy [email protected]

Art DirectorNeigerDesignInc

Studer Group Websitewww.studergroup.com

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>

EMBARK ON THE BALDRIGE JOURNEY.

Many years ago, when I was president of Baptist Hospital, Inc. in Pensacola, FL—well before Ifounded Studer Group—I received a call from a CEO who wondered if I had ever worked

with the Malcolm Baldrige award. When I said no, he explained that he thought the work we wereundertaking was very much in alignment with the Baldrige Criteria.

While there are several Baldrige Criteria that Studer Group’s Nine Principles® and Five Pillarsdo not address, there is excellent overall alignment between the Baldrige Criteria and Studer Grouptools. (See the crosswalk charts on page 3 and 6.) As an ever increasing number of health careorganizations have come to recognize the benefits of participating in the Baldrige Award process toaccelerate performance, Studer Group has responded by adding Baldrige expertise on staff.

In this issue, I invite you to learn from Baldrige National Examiner and Studer Group coachPaul Grizzell (already a popular speaker and Baldrige consultant to many Studer Group partners)and Debbie Cardello, former COO of 2004 Baldrige winner Robert Wood Johnson UniversityHospital Hamilton who just joined Studer Group in May. Long-time coach and former NationalExaminer Lucy Crouch shares her insights on page 5, along with several CEOs from Studer Grouppartner organizations who are at various stages in their unique Baldrige journeys (page 9).

I hope you find this issue helpful.

Yours in service,

1spring 2006 ISSUE 6 <

MESSAGE FROM QUINT

HEALTHCARE FLYWHEEL®

Quint StuderCEO, Studer [email protected]

> Look for these symbols every issue:

Studer Group encourages you to share your comments,feedback, and suggestions.Please send comments [email protected]

>WE INVITE YOUR FEEDBACK

Hardwire It: Use these tools fromStuder Group to standardize results across your organization.

Studer Group Web Link:Log ontowww.studergroup.com for learning on related topics.

SG Speaker: Speakers are available to present on this topic at your organization.Contact [email protected]

Learning Lab: Connect with opportunitiesto test “first mover”strategies working in other organizations.

2 > spring 2006 ISSUE 6

The Baldrige Award: The Journey Is the WinBy Paul Grizzell, Studer Group coach

Is your organization at the top of its game? If so, maybe you’re wondering how to make those incremental improvements to achieve the highest level of performance excellence. Or perhaps your organization’s performance

is just mediocre and leaders are looking for a method to accelerate improvement efforts. Maybe performance is evenpoor and you need a way to focus your turnaround efforts.

In my work with Studer Group partners and asa Baldrige National Examiner, I’ve watchedorganizations in each of these scenarios build apositive success spiral through the structure,employee engagement, and best practices thatBaldrige inspires (and requires).

A Model of Performance ExcellenceThe Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awardis the highest level of recognition for perform-ance excellence that an organization can achievein health care, manufacturing or education. Infact, the award was developed in the 1980s bythe U.S. Department of Commerce to helpAmerican business better compete in the globaleconomy. And, while originally developed as abusiness quality assessment, the BaldrigeCriteria have evolved into a comprehensivemanagement system that includes the same criteria for excellence, regardless of industry.You might be surprised to learn that health careis leading the way when it comes to excellence,too. While health care organizations just becameeligible to apply in 1999, nearly half of all 2005Baldrige applicants (33 out of 64 total) camefrom within our industry.

Why the Criteria Accelerate ResultsWhile every organization that applies forBaldrige would love to win, the irony is thatthose who do it solely for the trophy won’t suc-ceed. The extensive application and assessmentprocess ensures that those who win the awardare truly role model examples of performanceexcellence in practice. At the heart of theprocess are the Baldrige Criteria.

The Criteria are deliberately non-prescrip-tive and adaptable. They ask how you addressthe Criteria, but don’t tell you what to do. Infact, they guide you through your own assess-ment of what’s important and how you addressthose areas. Many organizations choose to use acombination of Studer Group tools, Six Sigma,Lean, FOCUS-PDSA, or other improvementmethodologies as prescriptive answers to themany non-prescriptive Baldrige Criteria.

Organizations who apply for the BaldrigeAward gain:

> an outside perspective that identifies strengthsand opportunities for improvement. Eachorganization is measured against the same setof Criteria based on the characteristics ofhigh-performing organizations.

> aligned leaders because the Criteria help createa single shared focus.

> laser sharp focus on highest organizational prioritiesbecause the Criteria offer an integrated management system that aligns performance excellence efforts throughout the organization.

Application, Assessment, and FeedbackHere’s how the process works…At the nationalBaldrige level, organizations submit a 50-pageapplication with an additional five-pageOrganizational Profile as a preface. An effectiveBaldrige application isn’t simply a set of answersto the Baldrige Criteria questions. Your Baldrigeapplication should be a formal description ofhow your heath care organization operates. Akey to success in writing an effective applicationis to ensure alignment among the three majorcomponents of the application: the

Get More BaldrigeResources

> At Studergroup.com:Learn about the Baldrige Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence and read NinePrinciples®—A Roadmap for the Baldrige Criteria.

(Go to “Tools”. Then select “Baldrige”.)

> At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):Read applications of pastBaldrige Award recipients at:http://www.quality.nist.gov/Contacts_Profiles.htm

Take a short leader assessment at:http://www.quality.nist.gov/PDF_files/ProgressAL.pdf


Organizational Profile, the Process Categoriesand the Results Category.

1. Organizational Profile.Writing an Organizational Profile is the firststep to take in your Baldrige journey. TheOrganizational Profile describes what isimportant to your organization. It’s a snap-shot of the characteristics and challenges ofyour organization. The Profile describes yourproducts and services, culture, key successfactors, strategic challenges, and performancemanagement system. In fact, if you do nothingbut complete the Organizational Profile, gain-

ing senior leadership input and agreement, youwill have a useful tool that helps focus yourorganization’s quality improvement efforts.

2. The Process Categories Your responses to the Process Categoriesexplain how your organization addresses lead-ership; strategic planning; a focus on patients,other customers and markets; measurement,analysis, and knowledge management; humanresources; and process management.

Baldrige Examiners assess the maturity ofyour organization’s responses to ProcessCategories using “ADLI:”

Baldrige Category

1. Leadership1.1 Senior Leadership1.2 Governance and Social Responsibilities

Studer Group Tool

> Leadership Development Institutes> Senior Leader Rounding> 6th Pillar: Community > Objective Leader Evaluations and Leader Evaluation ManagerSM

2. Strategic Planning2.1 Strategy Development2.2 Strategy Deployment

> Strategy Development – Pillars> Strategy Deployment – 90-day plans, communication boards

3. Focus on Patients, Other Customers, and Markets3.1 Patient, Other Customer and Health Care Market Knowledge3.2 Patient and Other Customer Relationships and Satisfaction

> Key Words at Key Times> AIDETSM Five Fundamentals of Patient Communication> Discharge Phone Calls and Discharge Call ManagerSM

> Individualized Patient Care

4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management4.1 Measurement, Analysis and Review of

Organizational Performance4.2 Information and Knowledge Management

> Leader Evaluation ManagerSM

> Focus on patient and employee satisfaction data> Data-driven decision-making

5. Human Resource Focus5.1 Work Systems5.2 Staff Learning and Motivation5.3 Staff Well-Being and Satisfaction

> High Middle Low Performer ConversationsSM

> Thank You Notes> 30- and 90-Day New Employee Meetings> Rounding for Outcomes and Rounding ManagerSM

> Peer Interviewing

6. Process Management6.1 Health Care Processes6.2 Support Processes and Operational Planning

> AIDETSM Five Fundamentals of Patient Communication> Service teams

(Systematic processes = hardwiring excellence)

7. Results7.1 Health Care and Service Delivery Outcomes7.2 Patient- and Other Customer-Focused Outcomes7.3 Financial and Market Outcomes7.4 Human Resource Outcomes7.5 Organizational Effectiveness Outcomes7.6 Leadership and Social Responsibility Outcomes

> Studer Group Principles and tools help organizations drive toimproved results across multiple Baldrige Results areas.

> Baldrige Results Categories align closely with Studer GroupPillars (People, Service, Quality, Finance, Growth).

> How Studer Group Tools Get Results

Studer Group’s tools, well-deployed,offer prescriptive ways to addressmany of the non-prescriptive Baldrige questions.

continued on page 4


Join Us for Studer Group’s June 29 On-DemandWebinar

“The Baldrige Award: What’s In It for Me?”

You’ll learn:

> how to get started

> why the Baldrige journey accelerates organizational results

> quick tips to get results faster

The cost is just $200 persite/dial-in number so include as many leaders as you like at no additional charge. To register or learn more, visitwww.studergroup.com

> Approach – what do you do?

> Deployment – how extensively do you do it?

> Learning – do you evaluate, improve and learn?

> Integration – how well is the approach inte-grated with your organizational needs?

3. Results CategoryBaldrige Examiners assess the maturity ofyour organization’s Results Category respons-es by considering how you address “LTCLi” or:

> Levels – what is your current performance?

> Trends – what is your performance over time?

> Comparisons – what is your performanceagainst appropriate comparisons?

> Linkages – how well do performance results address key customer, market, andprocess requirements?

A final note: Baldrige assessments are confi-dential. Examiners are required to maintain confidentiality and do not disclose what organiza-tions they assess. Because the Baldrige process isfocused on helping your organization improve,results are not reported to anyone outside theBaldrige program, until you win the BaldrigeAward. At that point, you are required to shareyour performance excellence journey and bestpractices as a method of helping advance per-formance excellence in organizations nationwide.

A Systematic Approach to ApplicationAny organization that is working on continuousimprovement has made progress along theBaldrige journey. In my experience coachingStuder Group partner organizations along their Baldrige journeys, I find they typically gothrough these stages:

> Awareness – commitment by senior leadersisn’t an option—it’s a requirement!

> Assessment – an initial assessment can helpyou determine where your organizationstands against the Baldrige Criteria, buildingunderstanding and identifying initial per-formance gaps. There are multiple methods toaccomplish this assessment—on-line, paper,interviews, or a combination of all. An assessment can also be a great way tointroduce Baldrige to the organization.

> Application – the development and submittal ofthe application. (Note: A team-based writingapproach can help accelerate this process.)

> Advance – Based on the results of the applica-tion, organizations learn how to focusimprovement efforts. They can determinehow best to sustain strengths and prioritizeand address opportunities for improvement.

After the ApplicationWhat happens “behind the scenes” after we sub-mit our application? There are three stages ofassessment before Baldrige winners are selected.

Stage 1 – Individual Assessment: TrainedBaldrige Examiners spend 40 to 50 hours eachassessing your application. They each compile alist of Strengths and Opportunities forImprovement comments for each area and scoreyour application against a set of guidelines.These scores help the Baldrige Judges determinewhich organizations move on to the ConsensusAssessment stage.

Stage 2 – Consensus Assessment: A team ofBaldrige Examiners takes your applicationthrough the Consensus process, during whichthey consolidate comments and determine ascore through team consensus. These consensusscores help the Baldrige Judges determine whomoves on to the Site Visit.

> Baldrige Core Values

The Baldrige Criteria are based on a foundation of 11 CoreValues. If they align with those of your organization, they offera road map to achieve your vision, mission and values.

1. Visionary Leadership

2. Patient-focused excellence

3. Organizational and personal learning

4. Valuing staff and partners

5. Agility

6. Focus on the future

7. Managing for innovation

8. Management by fact

9. Social responsibility and community health

10. Focus on results and creating value

11. Systems perspective


Baldrige and Studer Group’s Nine Principles®:Prescriptive Answers to Non-Prescriptive CriteriaHardwired Results® interviews Studer Group coach Lucy Crouch…

HR: As a long-time Studer Group coach and pastBaldrige National Examiner, can you share your observations about where both processes align andwhere they differ?

LC: Any organization that has been applyingStuder Group’s Must-HavesSM1 and NinePrinciples®2 for 18 to 24 months will find thatthe Baldrige Criteria is less about doing newthings and more about describing Studer Grouptools that have already been implemented. For example, Category 5 Criteria asks how anorganization recruits, hires and retains new staff.An organization using our prescriptive to do’s would answer by describing the peer interview

process, the 30 and 90 day questions and howthe Standards of Performance are used in theselection process.

However, when an organization begins to applythe Baldrige Criteria they will find some gapsthat Studer Group processes and tools do notfully address. For example, Baldrige includesCriteria on governance (Category 1); safety anddisaster preparedness (Category 5); and marketanalysis (Category 3) that are not a focus ofStuder Group coaching. While Studer Group’sFive Pillar framework3 and 90-day plans offer afoundation for how organizations will achieve

1 Studer Group’s six Must-HavesSM for service and opera-tional excellence include Rounding for Outcomes,Employee Thank You Notes, Selection and the First 90Days, Discharge Phone Calls, Key Words at Key Times,and Aligning Leader Evaluations with Desired Behaviors.For more information, visit www.studergroup.com andsearch on “Must-Haves.”

2 Studer Group’s Nine Principles® provide organizationswith a sequenced step-by-step process to attain desiredresults. For details, visit studergroup.com and search on“Nine Principles®.”

3 Studer Group’s Five Pillars include People, Service,Quality, Finance, and Growth. For more information,visit www.studergroup.com and search on “Pillars.”

Q&A:

continued on page 6

Stage 3 – Site Visit: A team of BaldrigeExaminers visits your organization for an in-depth assessment of your organization. Site visitsgenerally last 3 to 4 days, and provide anextremely in-depth assessment of your organiza-tion. The Baldrige examiners use the Criteria toassess an organization’s performance excellencejourney, provide actionable feedback, and recog-nize those that are national role models.

Applicants receive a feedback report detail-ing actionable Strengths and Opportunities forImprovement regardless of which assessmentstage they reach. There is a never-ending focuson continuous improvement. (Even organiza-tions that have won the Baldrige Award typicallyreceive a feedback report with approximately 40to 50 Opportunities for Improvement.)

Access a Studer Group webinar.

Register now at www.studergroup.com

The Baldrige Award: What’s In It for Me?

> June 29

Improving Patient Satisfactionwith Hourly Rounding

> Aug. 31

Proven Techniques forImproving Patient Flow and Satisfaction in theEmergency Department

> Oct. 12

Driving Results withIndividualized Patient Care

> Nov. 9* CMEs for physicians

provided.

It’s true that the Baldrige journey isn’t easy.Worthwhile journeys rarely are. Those who seethe Baldrige Award only as another trophy willfind it frustrating. But those leaders who have avision of role-modeling excellence will find theBaldrige Criteria, the application, the assessmentprocess, and the resulting feedback report to bean engaging, inspiring, and practical road mapfor their journey to performance excellence.

A much published author withexpertise in Six Sigma and LeanManagement, Paul Grizzell is aStuder Group Baldrige coach andfrequently requested speaker. He alsoserves as a Senior Examiner on the

Department of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige NationalQuality Award Board of Examiners.

Attend a Studer GroupInstitute.

Register atwww.studergroup.com

Taking You and YourOrganization to the Next Levelwith Quint Studer

> Aug. 2 to 3Chicago, IL

> Sept. 27 to 28Dallas, TX

> Oct. 18 to 19Nashville, TN* CMEs for physicians

provided.

What’s Right in Health CareAnnual Conference

> June 15 to 16Atlanta, GA* Pre-Conference on June 14

The Nuts and Bolts of Serviceand Operational Excellence inthe Emergency Department

> June 27 to 28Las Vegas, NV

Excellence in End-of-Life Care

> Aug. 17 to 18Destin, FL

Rural Partnership Institute

> Aug. 30 to 31Oak Brook, IL (Chicago area)

4 “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail”,Harvard Business Review, March 1, 1995.

short-and long-term goals with respect to strate-gic planning, it is not as comprehensive anapproach as the Criteria require.

HR: Are there lessons health care can learn from otherindustries that have won the Baldrige?

LC: Countless lessons. The Baldrige Categoriesare the same for all industries. Anyone applyinghas to address a focus on staff, leadership, strate-gic planning, and focus on the customer, etc.We’re just not that different in health care fromother businesses. What works well in leadership(Category 1), strategic planning (Category 2),or for employees (Category 5) is not necessarilyindustry specific. If an organization believes itcan only learn from a similar health care organi-zation, they have immediately lost a great dealof opportunity in learning from the best.

HR: Any insights for Studer Group partner organiza-tions that are considering Baldrige?

LC: I find that high-performing organizationsare at a risk for “declaring victory”. Once youdeclare victory, you lose momentum. This is anidea first put forth by John Kotter in his article

“Leading Change: Why Transformation EffortsFail.”4 He postulates that it can take five to tenyears for changes to sink deeply into a compa-ny’s culture—we’d call it “hardwiring”—and thatduring this time new approaches are fragile andsubject to regression. And while celebrating winsis key to generating the energy required to get tothe next level, declaring victory is fatal.

I always encourage successful organizations I coach to apply for Baldrige. When an organiza-tion starts using the Baldrige Criteria, pockets ofopportunity become quickly evident. If you’re ona journey to excellence, it’s a journey that neverends. The Criteria force the organization toalways ask, “What can we do better?” So whilethere is no “victory”, the journey hardwires a culture of continuous quality improvement.

With a background in case manage-ment and quality improvement,Lucy Crouch, R.N. has served as aBaldrige National Examiner for twoyears and coached Studer Grouporganizations for five years.


> How Studer Group’s Nine Principles® Align to Baldrige Criteria

Nine Principles®

Commit to Excellence

Measure the Important Things

Culture of Service

Create and Develop Leaders

Focus on Employee Satisfaction

Build Individual Accountability

Align Behaviors with Goals and Values

Communicate at All Levels

Recognize and Reward Success

Leadership

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

StrategicPlanning

x

x

x

x

x

Patients, OtherCustomers and

Markets

x

Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge

Management

x

x

Staff Focus

x

x

x

x

x

ProcessManagement

x

x

x

Baldrige Category


Bring a Studer GroupBaldrige expert on-site.

Learn more about Paul Grizzell’s and Debbie Cardello’spopular presentations:

> “The Baldrige Journey toPerformance Excellence” and

> “Studer Group Principles andTools: Prescriptive Answers to the Non-PrescriptiveBaldrige Criteria”

To book a speaking engagementor learn more, contact SheilaMartin at 850-343-0212 [email protected]

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton TransformedBy Debbie Cardello, RN, MSN, Studer Group coach

It was a monumental moment when Presidentand CEO Christy Stephenson and I accepted

the 2004 Malcolm Baldrige National QualityAward on behalf of all employees from VicePresident Dick Cheney in Washington, D.C. Butit didn’t even come close to seeing the joy andpride on the faces of our employees and physi-cians when they learned we had won the nation’shighest honor for performance excellence.

And the win was really just one momentthat capped an exhilarating six-year journey,where each successive Baldrige cycle fueled evenmore momentum, ownership, and empower-ment throughout the organization. The flywheelwas spinning!

Getting StartedWe adopted the Baldrige model because of itscomprehensive business approach. We wanted toget better faster. Our community expected anddeserved the very best care and we recognized thatthe Baldrige model would help expedite this quali-ty journey. Since Baldrige is a leader-driven model,we had to plan our approach, decide our teamstructure and define timeframes for deliverables.

Attending the Baldrige Quest for Excellence5

conference really set our leadership team on fire.In fact, our executive team could be found afterthe day’s conference in a nearby lounge huddledaround a laptop on the floor editing our Baldrigeapplication. We were so inspired and in awe ofwhat other Baldrige winning organizationsachieved. Everyone remembered us because it was such an unusual sight!

Back at home, when we began to define ourBaldrige approaches, we had a pleasant surprise:A number of our approaches were already inplace because we had been using prescriptivetools from Studer Group. For instance, Category1.1 Criteria ask: “How do senior leaders com-municate with, empower, and motivate staffthroughout the organization?” We coulddescribe how we used the Five Pillar framework

Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez congratulate RWJ Hamilton CEO ChristyStephenson and then COO Debbie Cardello on RWJ Hamilton’s 2004 Baldrige win.

“Embracing Baldrige helped us realize our missionand achieve the kind of results that many organi-zations dream about.”

—Christy Stephenson, President and CEO Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, NJ

5 The Quest for Excellence® Conference is the official con-ference of the Malcolm Baldrige National QualityAward. To learn more, visit the National Institute ofStandards and Technology website atwww.quality.nist.gov.

continued on page 8


Cascade OrganizationalGoals Effectively

See samples of how 2004Baldrige Winner Robert WoodJohnson University HospitalHamilton cascades quality and patient satisfaction goalsfrom a VP to a nursing unit tech. Search on “E3 RWJ” at www.studergroup.com

(People, Service, Quality, Finance, Growth) andcommunication boards as tools to communicateresults and key information to all groups. Ourhardwired system to ensure all employees receivehandwritten thank you notes is an example ofhow we recognize, motivate, and empoweremployees. When we were asked for our processto determine patient and other customer satis-faction and dissatisfaction (Category 3.2) wedescribed our approach using other StuderGroup tools like Rounding for Outcomes anddischarge phone calls. An especially effectiveapproach was to have our executive leaders serveas Baldrige Category leads.

Walking the Walk and Talking the TalkThe first time we read the Criteria it seemedlike it was written in a foreign language. Butover time, as we aligned our tools and team tothe Baldrige Criteria and approaches, thislengthy set of Criteria transitioned from itemson our “to do” list into the way we did business.For example, Baldrige taught us to benchmarkbest practices in other organizations. We alwaysset goals in the top 10th percentile of any data-base. It was almost a religion.

Whenever we set out to design a newprocess or service, we always asked ourselvesfirst: “Who does this well?” And we learnedfrom them. In fact, a leader from one Baldrige-winning organization advises Baldrige applicantsto “steal shamelessly.” So we did. In fact, wemodeled our E3 (Engage Every Employee) goalcascade after SSM Health Care’s “Passport”, their

tool to align individual employee goals withorganizational goals. (See sidebar to download asample.) Baldrige examiners were impressed thatevery staff person they interviewed could explainhow their goals aligned with organizational anddepartment goals.

Another example of “stealing shamelessly”was our Food on Demand or “room service” pro-gram. We recognize that patients don’t come tothe hospital to eat, but wanted them to haveoptions and choices as to what they eat and whenthey eat it. We also knew that hotels have beenoffering room service for years. So we bench-marked the Ritz-Carlton. The wonderful thingabout Baldrige—much like Studer Group’snational learning lab—is that there is this hugeformal network of organizations you can reachout to for help. It’s sort of an unwritten expecta-tion that all organizations on the Baldrige journey(again, like Studer Group partner organizations)agree to share information freely. In the end, thegoal is for all organizations to get better.

RWJ Hamilton was a good organizationpre-Baldrige, and cared for its community,employees, and physicians. But the Baldrigeframework helped our key results soar to benchmark bests…truly creating an organiza-tional transformation.

With over 20 years experience inhealth care, Debbie Cardello, RN,MSN and former COO at RobertWood Johnson University HospitalHamilton Hospital Hamiltonrecently joined Studer Group as a

coach and Baldrige expert.

Already on the Baldrige Journey?Attending “What’s Right in Health Care?”

Join us for Best Practices June 14 in Atlanta

If you’ve already registered for Studer Group’s What’s Right in Health Care Conference June 15 to 16, please joinus a day early for a special pre-conference session “On the Baldrige Journey: Overcoming Obstacles andBuilding Best Practices.”

At this interactive session, you’ll:

> Hear specific best practices from other Baldrige and state quality award participants

> Get advice from Studer Group’s Baldrige experts: Paul Grizzell and Debbie Cardello (former COO of RobertWood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, 2004 Baldrige winner).

> Learn how Baldrige aligns with Studer Group’s Nine Principles®, Five Pillars and prescriptive tools thataddress the Criteria.

> Network with other Studer Group partners on the Baldrige journey.

Register at www.studergroup.com

Take It in StagesWe have appliedtwice at the statelevel (awarded abronze, then asilver) and arenow applying atthe nationallevel as well asthe state level.

The Baldrige process is all part of our journey to create the very best health caresystem we can. Each year we ask ourselvesif the commitment of time and resourcesto Baldrige makes us a better organizationand each year we have concluded that wecontinue to benefit greatly.

Without clear input from this veryformalized process, I don’t think wewould have been able to gather the impe-tus organization wide to make theprogress we have.


CEOs Speak Out on Powerful Lessons LearnedThe Value is in the Journey…Not the Win

We just submit-ted our firstBaldrige appli-cation in May.If we win theBaldrige some-day, that wouldbe huge, butmy real interest

is in the value of the journey. Already ithas helped us clearly define key gaps,confirmed our direction and leadershipframework and provided strategic direc-tion and clarity to achieve our vision.

I think whenever an organizationapplies for an award, it engages and focusesemployees on achieving results. For exam-ple, when we applied and won the awardfrom the American Association of RetiredPersons (AARP), our human resources

SELF TESTcontinued from back cover

HOW DID YOU RATE?If you answered “yes:”

8 or more times:Congratulations. Your organization hashardwired performance excellence. If youare not already on the Baldrige journey,you are likely to find the process an excel-lent fit with your commitment to achieveyour mission, vision, and values. (Tip: Seepage 8 to download a free tool from 2004Baldrige Winner Robert Wood JohnsonUniversity Hospital Hamilton on how tocascade measurable goals to all levels ofthe organization.)

6 to 7 times:You understand what drives performanceexcellence, but may benefit from tools orcoaching in performance gaps to hardwireand sustain results. Read this issue ofHardwired Results®. You may also want to:

> contact Studer Group’s Baldrige expert Paul Grizzell at [email protected] to learn more aboutkey actions and tools that will moveyour organization’s performance further faster.

> Attend Studer Group’s Baldrige pre-conference session on June 14 in Atlanta at “What’s Right in HealthCare” if your organization is already on the Baldrige journey.

> Register for Studer Group’s Baldrigewebinar on June 29 if you are new to Baldrige.

5 or less times:You’ve already taken the first step to per-formance excellence by completing thisself-test. Take the next step when you:

> Order Hardwiring Excellence or 101Answers to Questions Leaders Ask byQuint Studer at Amazon.com or studer-group.com.

> Learn more about how the Baldrigejourney can help good organizationswho want to become world-class. See page 2, “More Baldrige Resources”for recommended reading at www.studergroup.com.

department aligned to Criteria that helpedmake us a great workplace for olderemployees. As a result, turnover is down6.1%. In winning Solucient, we had toprovide cost-efficient service and thisallowed us to learn more about our cost-efficiency. Baldrige is great because it is allencompassing. Rather than a focus on aspecific component, it balances ourprogress and success across all compo-nents…just like Studer Group’s Five Pillars.

Advice to other organizations? Besure you are truly ready to take the riskbefore you move forward with any awardcriteria. The risk is that you will reallyengage employees, which is excellent ifyou are ready to risk making realchanges. Otherwise, don’t begin becauseit’s not good for employees…it will onlylead to frustration and disappointment.

Michael S. Eesley, President & CEO, Centegra, Woodstock, IL

However, it’s important to under-stand there’s a steep learning curve at thebeginning. It requires engaged and com-mitted leaders. In fact, our senior leadersare the people writing the Categories inthe application that apply to their func-tions. I also think that successful organi-zations are those that understand thebenefit of having staff who recognize the Criteria through examiner training.

One of the lessons we learned:Organizations are more likely to achievea site visit and thereby get expert feed-back, by applying first to their state-levelquality awards before applying at thenational level. We were advised that thesite visit Criteria (application score) islower at the state level, which meansmore organizations that apply there willget that valuable site visit feedback andcan better gauge when they feel preparedfor the national application.

Michael W. Murphy, President & CEO, Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, CA

YES

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> spring 2006 ISSUE 6

913 Gulf Breeze Parkway

Suite 6

Gulf Breeze, FL 32561

06-01-32000-05-06

PRSRT STDUS Postage

PAIDMerrill WI

54452Permit No 24

YES

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CAN BALDRIGE MOVE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S PERFORMANCE FASTER?Answer these questions. Then see how you rate on page 9.

1. Do your senior leaders set an environment of excellence that encourages high performance?

2. Do you have a results-oriented leader-ship evaluation and improvement system?

3. Do your leaders and staff know patientand other customer complaints and havea method to address them?

4. Do your leaders and staff build effectiverelationships with patients and other cus-tomers to ensure high patient satisfactionand loyalty?

5. Does your organizational culture support employee learning, motivation,and high performance?

6. Does your organization systematicallyidentify, manage, and improve its keyhealth care processes?

7. Does your organization systematicallyidentify, manage and improve its key support processes?

9. Do your most important organizationalresults compare favorably to national rolemodel benchmarks?

8. Does your organization demonstrate positive performance trends across allPillars (People, Service, Quality, Finance, Growth)?

SELF TEST

Take the first step on yourBaldrige journey today.

Register now at studergroup.com for:

> Studer Group’s 2006 What’s Right in Health Care ConferenceJune 15 to 16, Atlanta(See page 8 for details on the June 14 Baldrige pre-conference session)

> Studer Group’s June 29 On-Demand Webinar: The BaldrigeAward: What’s In It for Me? (Details on page 4.)

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