Henry Ford Receives Prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award

DETROIT – Henry Ford Health System has been named a 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, one of the most prestigious national awards for performance excellence.

Henry Ford was one of only four 2011 recipients and the only organization in Michigan. An award ceremony is planned for April 2012.

“The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is a symbol of the highest standards of excellence, and we are extremely proud and humbled to have been selected,” says Nancy M. Schlichting, CEO of Henry Ford Health System.

“Participating in the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program has prepared Henry Ford to continue to serve our community, our State and our country with vision, innovation and a relentless focus on achieving world-class quality and service to our patients and their families, and providing the best workplace for our employees and physicians.”

"The Baldrige examiners saw what we recognize in our team members every day - that they are national role models for performance excellence who demonstrate pride and passion in what they do, continually striving for improvement," says Schlichting.

"While we have repeatedly been acknowledged across the country for our clinical excellence, the Malcolm Baldrige Award also validates our business acumen, our energizing and focused organizational culture, and the role that Henry Ford Health System plays as a major influence on the economic and health transformation of our great city and state," says Bob Riney, President & Chief Operating Officer, Henry Ford Health System.

Named after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987 by Congress to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality and business achievements of U.S. organizations, and to publicize these organizations’ successful performance strategies.

Now America’s highest honor for innovation and performance excellence, the Baldrige Award is a Presidential award presented annually to U.S. organizations by the office of the President of the United States. Awards are given to companies in manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit sectors. In conjunction with the private sector, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) manages the award and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.

In a profile of Henry Ford, the Malcolm Baldrige examiners wrote:

• Henry Ford Health’s leaders model and support entrepreneurism throughout the health care delivery system, research operations, and the Health Alliance Plan. Innovative strategies and solutions have been developed and implemented for the past decade, helping reduce unintended patient harm and establishing a “zero-defect, no-excuses” approach to health care outcomes.
• Among the best-in-class innovations at Henry Ford Health: the Perfect Depression Program, which uses an evidenced-based, integrated approach to address chronic depression; Home Health Services, Pharmacy Advantage, and OptimEyes (optometry care) - all services with a retail presence to increase brand recognition and access to new customers; and the West Bloomfield “hospital model,” in which a new hospital was built from scratch with the active involvement of the community (resulting in a facility with features such as a Culinary Wellness Program and an innovative building design with a “Main Street” feel).

To apply for the award, organizations must submit details showing their achievements and improvements in seven key areas:

• leadership
• strategic planning
• customer focus
• measurement; analysis and knowledge management
• workforce focus
• operations focus
• results

Applicants receive 300 to 1,000 hours of review and a detailed report on the organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvement by an independent board of examiners.

Baldrige examiners visited Henry Ford in October, spending four days at three dozen medical sites throughout the system, interviewing leaders and more than 1,200 employees.

In June, Baldrige announced that there were a total of 40 applications within the health care industry this year and an additional 29 from other industries. In September, the panel of judges selected six health care applicants to receive site visits, as well as five organizations from outside of health care.

All of the applicants were evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners in the seven key areas.

Henry Ford Health System, one of the country's largest health care systems, is a national leader in clinical care, research and education. It includes the 1,200-member Henry Ford Medical Group, five medical/surgical and two psychiatric hospitals, the Health Alliance Plan, 33 primary care centers and many other health-related entities throughout southeast Michigan. In 2010, Henry Ford provided nearly $200 million in uncompensated care. Henry Ford is a major economic driver in Michigan and employs more than 24,000 residents of Detroit’s Tri-County area. The health system is led by CEO Nancy Schlichting.

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