Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings January 2014, Volume 27, Number 1 | Page 48

Baylor news ■ Baylor Plano receives Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano has received one of the most prestigious awards in the 110-year history of Baylor Health Care System (BHCS). On November 13, 2013, US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announced that Baylor Plano received the 2013 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, making the medical center the first hospital in Texas to receive this renowned award. The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement, and visionary leadership. Baylor Plano is one of only 17 health care organizations to have ever received the award, which was established by US Congress in 1987. Jerri Garison, president of Baylor Plano, and leaders from the two other elite US organizations receiving the 2013 award, will be honored in April 2014 at a special ceremony in Baltimore featuring some of the nation’s top government and business officials. Baylor Plano was selected from 22 applicants that were evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners in seven areas defined by the Baldrige criteria: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results. An organization may compete for the award in one of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, health care, education, and nonprofit (including government agencies). However, there is not necessarily an annual recipient in each category. Thousands of organizations worldwide use the Baldrige criteria to guide their operations, improve performance, and achieve sustainable results. In health care, a 2011 report by Truven Health Analytics found that health care organizations that have won or been in the final review process for a Baldrige Award outperform other hospitals in all but one metric the company uses to determine its “100 Top Hospitals” in the nation (and were six times more likely to be among the top 100). Countless hours of work went into preparing the Baldrige Award application, and the award surveyors who visited Baylor Plano in October were impressed by the top-to-bottom quality they found at all levels. Surveyors noted that Baylor Plano consistently performed within the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for a variety 46 of key health care quality measures, including reducing pressure ulcers, preventing blood clots, increasing the efficiency and speed of the discharge process, and minimizing operating room turnaround time. They also cited patient satisfaction surveys for the past 5 years that have rated Baylor Plano’s inpatient, outpatient, and ambulatory surgery services with scores of 90% or higher, exceeding the Press Ganey top 10% national benchmarks. ■ Heart transplant program gets pumping In November 2012, Bay ܈[