You shouldn’t have to choose between quality healthcare and a great patient experience. And now you don’t have to. Hospitals and Healthcare Systems that have successfully used the Healthcare version of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a good or better quality of care and outcomes of care while at the same time providing a better patient experience than their competitors. While some have suggested that you have to make “trade-offs” and give up “quality of care” to improve patient experience and satisfaction, it turns out that is simply not true. Take a holistic, systems-thinking approach to designing and improving the care processes and the patient experience as an integrated system. You can have both, as the Baldrige Award recipients in this study demonstrate.
Study Scope and Methodology
The study compared 34 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Health Care recipients (2002-2011) to 153 competitors in their geographic markets using standard Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) performance measures. The performance was evaluated in three categories: process of care, patient experience, and outcomes of care.
Process of Care
The process of care category included 23 measures related to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. The study found no significant difference in process of care results between Baldrige recipients and their competitors. Although Baldrige recipients had higher mean values in most measures, only one measure (“surgery patients given the right kind of antibiotic”) was statistically significant.
Patient Experience
The patient experience category was assessed using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, which included 10 measures. Baldrige recipients consistently outperformed their competitors in this category. Nine out of the ten measures were statistically significant, indicating that Baldrige recipients provided a better patient experience. Measures included communication with nurses and doctors, pain management, cleanliness, and overall hospital rating.
Outcomes of Care
The outcomes of care category included six measures related to 30-day mortality and readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. The study found no significant difference in outcomes of care between Baldrige recipients and their competitors. Although Baldrige recipients had lower mean values in all measures, none of the differences were statistically significant.
Key Findings
- Process of Care: The study found no significant difference in process of care results between Baldrige recipients and their competitors.
- Patient Experience: There was a significant difference in patient experience results, with Baldrige recipients providing care equal to or better than competitors while also offering a better patient experience.
- Outcomes of Care: The study did not find a significant difference in outcomes of care between Baldrige recipients and their competitors.
Conclusion
The most important finding of this study is that Baldrige Award recipients provided care equal to or better than their competitors while simultaneously offering a superior patient experience. This adds to the growing evidence that the HCPE is a valid framework for aligning organizational design, strategy, systems, and human capital to create long-term effectiveness in a high-performance culture.
Schulingkamp, R. C., & Latham, J. R. (2015). Healthcare performance excellence: A comparison of Baldrige award recipients and competitors. In Quality Management Journal (Vol. 22, Issue 3, p. 17). DOI: 10.1080/10686967.2015.11918438
Publicity
Baldrige Helps Health Care Organizations Provide Superior Patient Experience | NIST Tech Beat | July 23, 2015 | Read Article
Baldrige Award-winning hospitals provide higher quality care, study finds | by Heather Punke | Becker’s Healthcare | July 27, 2015 | Read Article