North Mississippi Health Services (NMHS) in Tupelo, Miss. was the only health organization to receive the prestigious 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The four winners were announced on Wednesday by acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank.
The award is the nation’s highest federal honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership. In addition to NMHS the other recipients were Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Grand Prairie, Texas; MESA Products Inc. of Tulsa, Okla.; and the City of Irving, Texas. The three organizations represent the manufacturing, small business and nonprofit sectors, respectively.
NMHS is an integrated nonprofit, community-owned healthcare delivery system serving 24 rural counties in northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama. The organization of 6,226 employees includes six hospitals, four nursing homes and 34 clinics. It provides preventive and wellness services, hospital-based emergency and acute care services, post-acute care services, and a preferred-provider organization.
North Mississippi Medical Center, the flagship hospital and referral center in the NMHS system, was honored with a healthcare category Baldrige Award in 2006.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Baldrige Awards recognize organizational excellence based on seven criteria: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results. While the Baldrige Award was established in 1987, healthcare organizations first became eligible to receive recognition in 1999.
The 2012 Baldrige Award recipients were selected from a field of 39 applicants. All applicants were evaluated by an independent board of examiners in the seven different criteria. The evaluation process for each of the recipients included about 1,000 hours of review and an on-site visit by a team of examiners to clarify questions and verify information in the applications.
According to John Heer, president and CEO of NMHS, there were a total of five healthcare organizations that applied for the Baldrige Award this year. He also said in each of the seven categories there can be up to three award recipients.
“The biggest thing about receiving this award is that it’s external validation that we are doing the right thing. If you look at the criteria and analyze it, when you get done, it’s kind of about running a great organization,” said Heer. “This awards companies in the U.S. that achieve world-class status and can serve as a role model. It means we are focusing on what’s right if you want to be a great organization.”
Heer added that in December NMHS will receive a detailed feedback report from the Baldrige judges that identifies ways in which their organization could improve.
“We look forward to receiving the report,” he said. “While we did receive the award, it’s always good to know what we could work on and strive towards that - it’s part of the Baldrige process.”
This year marks the silver anniversary of both the award and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) that supports it. To date, more than 1,500 U.S. organizations have applied for the Baldrige Award, and there are Baldrige-based award programs in nearly all 50 states.
This year, the Baldrige judges also recognized organizations for best practices in one or more of the criteria. Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tenn., was recognized by the Baldrige judges for best practices in the individual categories of strategic planning and workforce focus. The other two honorees were Northwest Vista College in San Antonio and PwC Public Sector Practice in McLean, Va.
The 2012 Baldrige Award recipients are expected to be presented with their awards at an April 2013 ceremony in Baltimore, Md.